America's ports could be a weak link in America's economy, says a maritime ports expert at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. Entrepreneurship and co-author of a 2005 container port capacity survey, says that port traffic is growing exponentially. While ports are handling current demand, container volume is expected to at least double in the next ten years, and signs of capacity problems are already emerging. "Hurricane Katrina shut down the ports of New Orleans, Mobile, and Gulfport," Maloni says. "These ports represented only about 2% of total North American container volume, and Houston was mostly able to handle the diverted traffic, but next time it could be worse. "There is not enough capacity to handle major disruptions to the port system," he adds.
