The people who manage Washington's major ports and highway systems see a growing threat to their import business - a tiny port far to the north in British Columbia. Asian shippers have learned the fastest route to move their goods to the U-S midwest and east coast is the rapidly growing port of Prince Rupert in northern BC.
Cargo traffic bound for the US shipped to Prince Rupert has risen more than 11 percent so far this year, and virtually all that freight was then sent south by train. The isolated port is 68 hours closer than Los Angeles to ports in China because of the earth's curve, and it also boasts one of the deepest natural ice-free harbors in the world.
Canadian transportation officials know that, and they're spending billions of dollars to enlarge Prince Rupert's container docks and to improve rail lines to the US.
Seattle and Tacoma port managers are struggling with a sharp drop in Asian shipping, with congestion, labor tension and tax concerns. They banded together this fall to form what they call the Seaport Alliance to more efficiently handle cargo into Puget Sound.
Labor issues this past summer on the US West Coast diverted huge volumes of cargo through Vancouver and Prince Rupert. And Asian shippers dislike a US federal harbor maintenance tax imposed on each shipping container ranging from 25 to 500-dollars per container.
Prince Rupert may surpass Seattle before long in port capacity. The BC port enlargement will handle 2-million containers a year. Seattle counted only about 1.5 million last year.
