One of North America's most important gateways to Asia is struggling to keep up with an explosion in imports from China.

A 56 percent rise in two-way traffic at the Port of Vancouver in 2004 created shipping congestion at its main terminals, which currently handle over 29 billion dollars (23.5 billion US dollars) worth of goods per year. And import-export levels look set to grow at an equally stunning pace in 2005.

Months of rail congestion which, at the height of the problem a year ago, doubled the 26 days it took for goods to reach Toronto from Hong Kong, led several shipping lines, including China Shipping and Hapag-Lloyd, to divert a small number of shipments to Halifax on the east coast via the Suez Canel.