COSCO Shipping's "Panama" set sail from the Greek Port of Piraeus June 11 to make its way to Panama and into the history books.  The Neopanamax vessel will make the inaugural transit of the expanded Panama Canal on Sunday, June 26, after a 14-day journey.

Cosco Shipping's "Panama" is a new vessel that launched in January 2016. The Neopanamax containership is 299.98 meters in length and 48.25 meters in beam, and has a container carrying capacity of 9,472 TEUs. Originally named Andronikos, the vessel was renamed by China COSCO Shipping to pay respect to the people of Panama and for the honor of the inaugural transit. This ship was selected during a draw for the inaugural transit through the expanded waterway. Coincidentally, the ship was built in Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd, the same company that constructed the valves that control the flow of water through the new locks of the Canal.
 
   

Seven of the largest U.S. railroads' spending created $274 billion in economic activity, generated nearly $33 billion in state and federal tax revenue and supported 1.5 million jobs nationally in 2014, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) announced in its "State of the Industry Report" of 2016.

Citing new research from Towson University's Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI), the report is the first of its kind to quantify the economic impact of investments by Class I railroads with U.S. operations, AAR officials said in a press release.

"Significant capital investments by railroads and the steady presence of a coast-to-coast network that can reliably deliver goods at a cost effective rate generates a ripple effect seen in this study," said Daraius Irani, lead researcher and chief economist at RESI. "Railroad spending means job growth, dollars to communities and global competitiveness."

According to AAR, key points cited in the report include:
* $28 billion in spending by freight railroads in 2014 is more than half of all federal spending on transit formula grants, federal highway construction programs and airport improvement programs combined.
* One job at a freight railroad supports nine others touched by the rail industry, including retail, manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.
* The rail industry's state and local tax generation is greater than the taxes collected by 30 individual states in 2014.

"For manufacturers and consumers, small and large businesses, energy companies and farmers, freight rail is the basic building block that allows a great sweep of economic activity to take place across the country," wrote AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger in the report.
Hamberger and other economists cited in the report take the position that the freight-rail industry's economic impact requires "smart public policy that does not impede day-to-day operations or diminish continued private capital investment," according to the press release.