Port Miami’s Infrastructure Investment Starts Paying Off

As we move on in our discussions about new container weight regulations and the infrastructure repairs that are taking place at ports all over the light trails on the modern building background in shanghai china.the country in preparation for megaships, we see the Port of Miami has boasted a 20% increase in container traffic in January. After nearly $1 billion in infrastructure improvements were made, including dredging the harbor to fifty feet to accommodate the larger ships, Miami is a lesson in how the new investments in our ports should improve ocean traffic. As it stands right now, the Ports of Miami and Virginia are the only southeastern ports that can accommodate post-panama vessels.
iStock_000019745845_LargeThe ability to accept the enormous ships from the beginning sets Miami in a unique position among the southeast. Both the Ports of Virginia and Charleston showed flat growth in January, which is attributed to the larger ship’s inability to call. Miami also has a fast-access tunnel connecting the port directly to the U.S. Interstate Highway System as well as its Florida East Coast Railway on-dock intermodal rail service, which allows for rapid turnaround times putting shippers within reach of 70 percent of the U.S. population within 4 days. 

Port Miami imported nearly 410,000 TEUs last year, up 19% over 2014 and exported almost 364,000 TEUs in 2015 which is a 7.6% bump. “Today, we are well-positioned to support vessels capable of hauling more than 10,000 TEUs, and will continue to promote multimodal shipping and support global trade into and out of South Florida alongside our partners at Port Miami,” Jim Hertwig, railway president and CEO, said in a statement.