After assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Maria to supply chain infrastructure in Puerto Rico, many shipping companies are assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in transporting cargo into the heart of the island territory.
Cargo and supplies are slowly filtering through Caribbean ports and into the most heavily damaged areas of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, according to ocean carrier Crowley Maritime.
“Nearly all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief cargo that has arrived to date at its Isla Grande Terminal in Puerto Rico has been transported to FEMA receiving locations on the island by the company’s logistics group – the result of strong ongoing coordination with FEMA and other government agencies providing relief after Hurricane Maria,” Crowley said in a recent statement.
FEMA, with the help of many logistics groups, have prioritized trucking government loads onto the island.
“While there are thousands of loads of commercial cargo on the terminal awaiting distribution, the FEMA loads are moving and thousands more are on the way,” said Crowley.
“This is a team effort,” said Crowley’s Jose “Pache” Ayala, vice president of Puerto Rico services. “We are working with our commercial customers to understand their shipping needs and help them scale back, while maintaining our focus on expediting FEMA cargo through the supply chain.
“Our team and FEMA continue to transport, receive and distribute water, food and other relief items as fast as we can as it arrives at the terminal to support the island’s recovery,” said Ayala. “As commercial customers begin getting back on their feet, we will continue to coordinate with them to pick up their cargo from the terminal.”
However, Ayala said “retailers and grocers must also be part of the recovery. The sooner they can begin receiving loads and making goods available to consumers, the better. Additionally, this will help restore the supply chain here and create the opportunity for more relief supplies to reach people in need as fast as possible.”
Similarly, Trailer Bridge, another ocean shipping company, has asked customers in Puerto Rico to pick up containers and return those that have already been picked as soon as possible.
“If we don’t start shipping empties back next week, we won’t be able to pick up cargo from the States and bring the island more goods,” Jacob Wegrzyn, vice president and general manager of Trailer Bridge Puerto Rico told CNBC. The last time Trailer Bridge shipped out empty containers was Friday with 160 empties, which is less than normal, according to the CNBC report.
“We need our customers to pick up their containers, and get the empty containers back to us so we can get them back to the States so we can keep the supply chain moving,” said Wagrzyn.
The relief effort to Puerto Rico has been plagued not by supplies and cargo availability, but transportation from the island port terminals to the people in need
The Department of Homeland Security last week issued a temporary waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, but that was never going to do much good for the actual citizens in need of food and fresh water, according to Thomas Allegretti, chairman of the American Maritime Partnership.
“What we are seeing clearly on the ground is thousands of cargo containers piling up at the port of San Juan, filled with essential goods that the Puerto Rican people desperately need, but not nearly enough trucks and clear roads to distribute the goods,” said Allegretti. “So, the problem at the port is a lack of trucks and delivery routes, not a lack of vessels.”
But Crowley and other companies are confident in their logistic efforts thus far. By Friday, Crowley said it expects to have 4,100 commercial loads on its terminal ready for pickup containing a variety of needed products, including food, beverages, construction materials, clothing and much more. In addition, Crowley is scheduled to move 272 emergency relief vehicles, including 140 fuel trucks, and 100 disaster recovery vehicles from Jacksonville to San Juan.
Trailer Bridge has also increased its vessel capacity to support additional aid cargo, with a new bi-weekly departure from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico. The first sailing departed Oct. 2.
Meanwhile, the latest port condition update from the U.S. Coast Guard declared all Caribbean ports open without restrictions, with the exception of the Puerto Rico port terminals and St. John, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Ceiba port terminals.
In Puerto Rico, Arecibo, Mayaguez, Ponce and Yabucoa are open to daylight transits only and to vessels with a draft less than 15 feet, 28 feet, 38 feet and 37 feet, respectively. Fajardo and Culebra, Vieques are open to daylight transits only, while Guayama, Puerto Rico is open to tug/barge only. No vessels with a deep draft or with a gross tonnage greater than 500 are allowed at Guayama.
Red Hook, St. Thomas and Cruz Bay, St. John are open for daylight transits only. Krause Lagoon, St. Croix can only be accessed via the Limetree Bay Channel. Roosevelt Roads Port/Ceiba is allowing vessels with a draft of 33 feet or less to transit through daylight hours only.
