Trump Gulf of America and Panama Canal

US President elect Donald Trump suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and reiterated that wind turbines are “driving the whales crazy. Trump has publicly expressed a desire to taking back the Panama Canal claiming”it’s being operated by China” and also accused Panama of overcharging US ships to use the waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A Hong Kong-based company, CK Hutchison Holdings, manages two ports at the canal’s entrances. In the year 1977 Panamá and the US negotiated treaties under President Jimmy Carter and ceded the land back to Panama. The Western and Eastern ports of the US are not connected by sea. The Panama Canal annual revenues rose slightly to $3.45 billion despite a severe drought that reduced the number of vessels that passed through the waterway also limiting their maximum draft allowed. The restrictions, which caused long delays for some vessels to pass and forced others to seek alternative routes, were removed later this year after rainfall replenished the country’s water reservoirs. The waterway handled 423 million tons of cargo through its locks and saw passage of 27 ships daily on average. The Panama Canal Authority has advanced $8.5 billion in projects for new infrastructure.

The revenues of the Suez Canal dropped to $7.4 billion annually from $ 9.4 billion and the number of vessels transiting reduced by around 5000 after ships started to avoid the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks . Egypt owns the Suez Canal. Several shipping lines redirected ships through South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope as an alternative route which increased the distance, duration and costs of shipping.

John Phelan , a businessman and art collector , has been nominated by US President elect Donald Trump for Secretary of the Navy. John Phelan would be the first Navy Secretary in 15 years without any military background and his nomination seems to have been made with a view to revive the US commercial maritime sector on priority. Trump’s maritime approach would impact on trade as commercial vessels continue to avoid the Red Sea. It would be interesting to see whether John Phelan blockades the Houthis rather than the present muted response. Recently South Korea’s Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Ocean have acquired Philly Shipyard and strategic plans are in place to invest $100 million to globally expand defense and shipbuilding operations . Philly Shipyard is a leading U.S. shipbuilder that has delivered around half of the merchant navy vessels in the United States since the year 2000 and operates the largest construction facility in the U.S. The incoming Secretary of Navy would have to propose an economic and commercial strategy in the areas of shipbuilding and ship repair and expanding the present fleet of around 2500 commercial ships registered in the US.