COCHRAN COMMENDS TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY PACT
TO INCREASE TRADE THROUGH PANAMA CANAL

Two-Year Agreement Aimed at Increasing Commerce on Inland Waterway

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today commended the signing of an international pact to link the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway with goods shipped through an expanded Panama Canal.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Panama Canal Authority that pledges cooperative efforts to promote the Tombigbee inland waterway as an international trade route.  The agreement was signed today at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Development Council’s annual meeting in Point Clear, Ala.
 
“I am pleased that the Tennessee-Tombigbee Water Development Authority is entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Panama Canal Authority to embark on a mutually beneficial agreement that will lead to greater commerce and economic opportunity for this region,” Cochran said in a message issued for the MOU signing.

“This strategic partnership to expand the Panama Canal and promote the ‘All-Water Route’ connecting Asia to the Eastern United States will allow for an increase in international trade and will create opportunities for economic growth in Mississippi, Alabama and other states.  I am especially pleased because the benefits resulting from this expansion in maritime commerce will reach well beyond the Gulf Coast states to facilitate a more timely, affordable exchange of goods with a greater number of American businesses and consumers,” he said.

Under the MOU, both parties agree to joint marketing, information sharing and technology exchanges to promote the inland waterway.  A similar two-year agreement was signed in early August between the Port of Gulfport and the Panama Canal Authority.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is 234-mile manmade shipping channel that connects the Tombigbee and Tennessee rivers, offering access to inland ports in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Panama Canal is currently undergoing a $5.25 billion expansion project that designed to double the capacity of the canal.