The changes will allow for ships that can carry up to three times the cargo.

East Coast ports are upgrading their infrastructure to accommodate increased freight expected after the 2015 expansion of the Panama Canal. West Coast ports have to ship up in order to compete.

The government of Nicaragua is paying two Dutch companies about $750,000 to study the feasability of building a canal — a canal that would rival the Panama Canal and create another link from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea.

The Panama Canal is getting a makeover, and it could be a gamechanger for Atlantic coast ports — that is, if those ports are ready in time.