PortMiami’s largest trade regions are Latin America and the Caribbean. As the closest U.S. port to these locations, produce businesses importing or exporting through PortMiami enjoy shorter shipping times and extended shelf life. Each year, fruits and vegetables are among the top cargo that passes through PortMiami. In 2014, more than 170,000 tons of fruit and 124,000 tons of preserved vegetables and fruits were shipped in through the Port.
The Completion of the Deep Dredge
Thanks to a number of recent improvements, this volume may continue to rise. In September 2015, PortMiami announced the completion of its ‘Deep Dredge’ project, which greatly increased the Port’s channel depth.
As a result, PortMiami is now the only major logistics hub south of Virginia capable of handling fully laden Post-Panamax vessels—massive ships that were too large to pass through the canal before the expansion.
These vessels follow strict size regulations set by the Panama Canal Authority, as the entry and exit points of the Canal are narrow. This new generation of Post-Panamax vessels can hold significantly more cargo than previous ships, to the tune of 9,000 more containers or 18,000 more TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units; a standard 40-foot container is equal to two TEUs). By 2030, Post-Panamax ships could represent 62 percent of the world’s total container ship capacity.
“The Deep Dredge will allow for the Super Post-Panamax vessels to dock in Miami, which will bring more cargo to this already well-oiled machine we call PortMiami,” explains Frank Ramos, president of The Perishable Specialist Inc., a licensed customs broker.
Patricia Compres, president and CEO of Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting LLC, is also optimistic the Deep Dredge will lead to an upsurge of produce imports to PortMiami. “We hope it will provide more cargo once the larger vessels begin to arrive in the future, which will increase our sales.”
Located near Miami International Airport, Advance Customs Brokers helps produce importers with all facets of the regulatory process. “PortMiami is working on building a complex where we can have the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the same building, so we can have expedited services to process perishable cargo,” Compres adds.
Ramos says Miami produce businesses should see the benefits from the dredge project when the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2016. “More space availability on these huge vessels will definitely increase imports of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially from origin ports that have seen space shortages in the past.”
