Everglades FY’14 volume grows in part at Port Miami’s expense.
Port Everglades has solidified its spot as the top container port in Florida by handling a record 1.01 million TEUs during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Volume grew 9 percent from 927,572 TEUs in fiscal year 2013.
The Fort Lauderdale port’s previous best year for container throughput was 2008, with 985,095 TEUs.
Last year, the three primary container ports in Florida were neck and neck in cargo moved through their facilities.
Container volume at the Port of Jacksonville, to the north, grew 1 percent in fiscal year 2014 to 936,973 TEUs from 926,809 TEUs, as cargo business with Puerto Rico slowed due to the island’s weak economy.
Port Miami, located 35 miles south, suffered a 2.75-percent drop in volume to 876,708 TEUs, according to spokeswoman Andria Muniz-Amador. Volume in fiscal year 2013 was 901,454 TEUs, which represented a drop from 909,917 TEUs in 2012.
Miami’s volume has tailed off from a high of 1.05 million TEUs in fiscal year 2005.
Port Everglades benefited from ocean carrier King Ocean’s decision in June to open a second terminal yard and shift services from Port Miami. Port Everglades expects to gain 30,000 containers annually as King Ocean consolidates several Eastern Caribbean services at the seaport that had previously called Terminal Island in Miami.
Port Director Steven Cernak also attributed Everglades growth to a full year of the Grand Alliance service (Hapag-Lloyd, NYK Line and OOCL) to Northern Europe.
The South Atlantic port is investing to attract larger vessels and more cargo in conjunction with the upcoming expansion of the Panama Canal. The Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) recently opened an intermodal terminal on the backside of the port to haul international boxes to and from the port. The port is also awaiting a final feasibility study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers so it can begin funding with state money the preliminary planning and engineering to deepen its navigation channel to 48 feet.
In addition to losing the King Ocean services, Port Miami has suffered from the political turmoil in Venezuela, Port Director Juan Kuryla said during an interview in his office last summer. Seaboard Marine, one of the primary container lines serving the country, has virtually stopped doing business in Venezuela because it was not getting paid by customers, he said.
Miami is Seaboard’s hub, and it carries about 45 percent of the port’s total container traffic.
“When they’re down, we’re down,” Kuryla said.
Port Miami officials expect cargo volumes to rebound as infrastructure improvements come on line to support much larger vessels carrying merchandise from Asia, as well as Latin America and Europe. Dredging is well underway to deepen the main harbor channel to 50 feet, and several new post-Panamax cranes are in place. In August, authorities opened a tunnel connecting the port directly to the interstate highway system to make it easier for shuttle trucks and cruise passengers to reach the port. The FECR also recently completed its on-dock rail development and now provides intermodal service.
Florida has several other ports, but they are relatively minor players when it comes to the container trade.
The Port of Palm Beach, a short drive north of Fort Lauderdale, handled 254,664 TEUs in fiscal year 2013 through September. It has not officially reported full fiscal year 2014 results, but was running 3.5-percent ahead of pace through August, with 241,934 TEUs, according to figures provided by the port authority.
Port Canaveral, which sits between Palm Beach and Jacksonville in the center of the state, handled 572 containers in 2013, but is building a new container terminal and recently signed a long-term lease with global terminal operator Gulftainer to run the facility, starting next year.
Port Tampa Bay, on the west coast of the state, only handled 42,000 TEUs in 2013. The port authority did not have figures for the fiscal year that just ended when contacted.
Results for all ports are preliminary, pending official audits.
Port Everglades widens lead among Florida container ports
