PortMiami is situated at the crossroads of the north-south and east-west trade lanes, serving ocean carrier clients by providing a bridge between the worldwide markets of US consumers and producers. The facility is also well-positioned to serve cruise travellers, offering them the kind of service that has made Miami the undisputed Cruise Capital of the World©.
“With its supporting role for the commerce and tourism sectors, PortMiami is critical to the current and future economic development of Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida. The facility has created over 340,000 jobs and contributes $61 billion every year, making it Miami-Dade County’s second-largest economic engine. And it is running well.
“Last year was a really good year,” says Andy Hecker, Deputy Port Director and CFO of PortMiami. “We set a record for cruise passengers last year with 7.299 million movements, and this year you’ll see us significantly eclipse those figures.”
Shoreside Power
As well as serving more and more passengers, the Port has also taken the major step of switching to “cold ironing”, a system whereby vessels arriving at the port plug into its onshore power system rather than drawing power from their own engines and generators. The project is called Shore Power, and it is a landmark achievement.
“I really want to give this administration credit for having the political will for Shore Power,” Hecker says. “It is an investment of more than $120 million that generates no additional return. The political will it took to make that happen was a pretty heavy undertaking.”
It is a project driven not by profit, but by the increasingly urgent push for the transport sector to reduce its carbon footprint.
“The exhaust from cruise ships sitting at berth in a downtown location like Miami is very visible,” Hecker tells us. “Because we are a part of that community, seeing the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, it has been baked into our DNA over the last four to six years to try and reduce that. A lot of political entities say they exist to support their community, but PortMiami’s actions demonstrate that we are public servants.”
These measures are proving particularly vital as the International Maritime Organisation has announced new standards for the emissions of cruise vessels, and those standards take into account a vehicle’s emissions throughout its entire voyage.
“When a vessel leaves Miami and returns to Miami, they measure the emissions and grade them, and if that grade is an F or an E, the cruise operator receives a fine,” Hecker explains. “Plugging into Shore Power at both ends of a trip can be the difference between being fined and not being fined. That we are the only port offering this service makes us an attractive prospect for operators.”
Opening Up Cargo
As well as providing this extra support to the cruise side of PortMiami’s business, the facility has also been expanding the cargo side of its operations.
“The numbers were kind of flat,” Hecker admits. “Between inflation and interest rates, a lot of containerised international trade had plateaued without much expectation of that changing. But we are in the process of expanding our railyard, doubling the proportion of our cargo that can be moved by rail. We have acquired six more gantry cranes, while finalising designs, zoning and permitting for an inland port.”
These are improvements PortMiami has been working on for over the last four years, particularly as demand grows for near-shoring and new services have begun calling in from Latin American ports and ports on the east coast of Mexico. Many of these are locations that have never called on PortMiami before, or if they have, this is the first time they have returned in 15 years.
As PortMiami’s flow of passengers, cargo and vendors increases, managing that traffic flow presents new challenges.
“Our port is an island, and we are in an urban location,” Hecker emphasises. “We only have two points of ingress and egress. Fortunately, one of those is a tunnel we had the foresight to build, that connects directly to the interstate. We are located in downtown Miami, in front of all the high rises. So with all that visibility comes a constant pressure to generate increased economic benefits while mitigating congestion to fit into the vibrant community of Miami.”
PortMiami has been implementing new measures over every aspect of its facilities, a detail-orientated approach that oversees everything right down to the municipal bodies responsible for the traffic light changing sequences.
“It has really been an example of careful what you wish for with the growth we’ve seen,” Hecker says. “Having an inland port where we can stage cargo allows us to set the hours when cargo can move. That means we can reduce the congestion that comes with such significant growth. That has really been our single largest challenge. We are expanding capacity with a $4 billion improvement program, but you need to establish the sequence of investments so that your earlier investments can generate revenue to fuel future investments.”
This work is made possible by PortMiami’s broad view of its attributes and activities and how they can impact each other, but also its ability to pay close attention to even the smallest details. It is a responsibility shared by every member of staff. This is why PortMiami is investing in workforce development, introducing internships and collaborating with accredited universities. This is not only a way of establishing a talent pipeline, but of strengthening PortMiami’s outreach into local communities.
“You can put in all the infrastructure you want but it is not always a case of ‘build it and they will come,’” Hecker says. “You need to find out what the market needs. You have to keep your finger on the pulse of the market.”
But PortMiami will not stop there.
“We have started an innovation function here at the port. We are launching pilot schemes for three different technologies ranging from cargo verification to AI analysis,” Hecker shares. “Innovation is very important for us.”
Looking forward, Hecker has a comprehensive strategy for the future of PortMiami.
“On the Cruise side we have a terminal redevelopment project with a two-year build cycle,” says Hecker. “MSC has already built us the world’s largest cruise terminal, which will open at the end of this year. On the cargo side, things are dramatically different. We are modernising and densifying all of our terminals. As we watch markets change, Florida is growing faster than any state in the nation. In response to that we are pushing to create this inland port, expand our rail capabilities, and ultimately triple our volumes across the board.”
