AIMS’ Atlantica concept has been making headlines for years, yet for some it’s still new. Around the world, other centres are acting and reacting quickly on the latest trends in seagoing transportation. The mega-ships, post-Panamax and the exploding Asian markets are all getting attention.
In this Commentary, based on remarks by AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley to the Halifax Shipping Association, he explains that the time for talk is over.
“If we fail to make Atlantica work, traffic volumes will not remain stable, but will almost certainly fall, as the trend to focusing seaborne commerce on a smaller and smaller number of hub ports means that Atlantic Canada will be bypassed altogether by this traffic if we fail to make Halifax a gateway for the northeast of the continent. There are no guarantees we can keep current traffic destined for Montreal, Toronto and Chicago. So the choice is between less or more, not between the status quo and more.”
Crowley says the time has come for action.
“Let’s buy the land now, and design a network of inland ports that can support the road trains I’ve described, thus rapidly spreading the benefits of Atlantica widely throughout the region. Let’s develop the depth and breadth of our logistics community, through the creation of a logistics park so that we have in one place the incredible range of high value services that go to support a major gateway in the world trading system. What we have now is rudimentary at best.”
To read the complete commentary, click here.
