For more than 100 years, the Panama Canal has been the gold standard for shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific, saving companies countless hours and dollars. But nothing stays the same forever, and one innovative company based out of Florida is proposing a radical change to how goods move from one ocean to the other.
Called Zergratran SA, the startup company is looking for funding to leapfrog over the Panama Canal with its “Puerto International Las Americas (PILA) idea. Zergratran stands for zero gravity transportation. Using the model of Japanese mag trains, Zergratran wants to build a tunnel beneath Colombia and south of the Panama Canal. Ships would arrive in port, load their cargo onto the mag trains, and the trains would move the items across to the other side in about a half hour. Additionally, Zergratran claims the method would drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. While the concept is interesting, raising funding has a steep mountain to climb, beginning with the need for a $5 million “pre-feasibility” study. After that, the monetary needs only escalate, so serious buy in is a huge pre-requisite if the project is ever to get off the ground.
What are your thoughts on the concept?
