TTW Signs Pact with Panama Canal

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority has signed an international agreement with the Panama Canal Authority to expand shipping through the inland waterway.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile manmade shipping channel connecting the two southern U.S. rivers. The channel provides access to inland ports in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The agreement includes joint marketing, information sharing and technology exchanges to promote the waterway over the next two year.

A similar two-year agreement was signed earlier this month between the Port of Gulfport, Miss., and the Panama Canal Authority.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee ships as much as 1.2 billion ton-miles of commerce each year and has become a preferred route to transport heavy machinery, equipment, and other kinds of oversized, finished products, according to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority.