re: With today’s tech, can’t we just cut right through

There are plenty of options:

A Panamax port is a deepwater port that can accommodate a fully laden Panamax ship.

Pacific Ocean[edit]
Port of Seattle

Port of Tacoma

Port Madison — sometimes called Port Madison Bay, a deepwater bay located on Puget Sound.

Port Angeles

Port of Grays Harbor

Port of Longview

Port of Kalama

Port of Vancouver USA

Port of Portland — three post-Panamax terminals.

Port of Coos Bay — Oregon's second busiest seaport

Port of Humboldt Bay — (aka Port of Eureka) the only deepwater port in California north of San Francisco Bay

Port of Richmond

Port of Stockton — California's farthest-inland deepwater port.

Port of Oakland — channel is fifty feet deep and eight hundred feet wide.

Port of Redwood City — resulting from dredging the mouth of Redwood Creek

Port of Hueneme — only deepwater port between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the only military deepwater port between San Diego Bay and Puget Sound

Port of Los Angeles — busiest port in the United States.
Port of Long Beach — one of the busiest container ports in the world.
Port of San Diego — home to the bulk of the United States Navy Pacific Carrier Fleet. Only the first nine miles (14 km) of the bay are accessible to Panamax vessels.