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PortMiami, Dodge Island, Miami, Florida, USA

PortMiami, formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States. It is connected to Downtown Miami by Port Boulevard—a causeway over the Intracoastal Waterway—and to the neighboring Watson Island via the PortMiami Tunnel. The port is located on Dodge Island, which is the combination of three historic islands (Dodge, Lummus and Sam's Islands) that have since been combined into one. It is named in honor of 19 term Florida Congressman Dante Fascell.

 

As of 2011, PortMiami accounts for 176,000 jobs and has an annual economic impact in Miami of $18 billion.

 

In the early 1900s, Government Cut was dredged along with a new channel to what now is known as Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami[4]. This new access to the mainland created the Main Channel which greatly improved the shipping access to the new port. From these original dredging spoils which were disposed on the south side of the new Main Channel, new islands were inadvertently created which later became Dodge, Lummus and Sam's Island along with several other smaller islands.

 

As the port grew through the years as a result of the improved shipping access and growth of the South Florida community, it also needed additional lands to expand its operation. As such, on April 5, 1960 the Dade County Board of Commissioners approved Resolution No. 4830, "Joint Resolution Providing for Construction of Modern Seaport Facilities at Dodge Island Site" which on April 6, 1960 the City of Miami approved the same as City Resolution No. 31837 to construct the new Port of Miami. Soon thereafter, work began on constructing the new port on Dodge Island by expanding the island and joining it other islands in the general vicinity. Then upon construction of the new seawalls, transit shed 'A', the administration building and a new vehicle and railroad bridge, the operations were transferred from the mainland port to the new port on Dodge Island. Thereafter through the years, additional fill material from dredging enlarged the islands of Lummus and Sam's along with the filling of the North, South and NOAO slips, creating the new port which is built on a completely man made island.

 

PortMiami boasts the title "cruise capital of the world", and is the busiest cruise/passenger port in the world. It accommodates the operations of such major cruise lines as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line. It was home of the largest cruise ships in the world until 2009, when Port Everglades became home to Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship, Allure of the Seas. Currently the following ships are based in Miami: Carnival Vista, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Glory, Carnival Victory, Carnival Splendor, Enchantment of the Seas, Empress of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Sky, Disney Magic.

 

In 2018, PortMiami became homeport for five more modern megaliners: Mariner of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Carnival Horizon, and Norwegian Bliss.

 

As the "Cargo Gateway of the Americas", the port primarily handles containerized cargo with small amounts of breakbulk, vehicles and industrial equipment. It is the largest container port in the state of Florida and ninth in the United States. As a world-class port, PortMiami is among an elite group of ports in the world which cater to both cruise ships and containerized cargo.

 

PortMiami is an important contributor to the local south Florida and state economies. Over four million cruise passengers pass through the Port, 7.4 million tons of cargo and over 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) (FY 2004/2005) of intermodal container traffic move through the seaport per year. This combination of cruise and cargo activities supports approximately 176,000 jobs, and has an economic impact in Miami-Dade County of over $17 billion, $14 billion of which is generated by its cargo operations.

 

The port currently operates eight passenger terminals, six gantry cranes wharves, seven Ro-Ro (Roll-on-Roll-off) docks, four refrigerated yards for containers, break bulk cargo warehouses and nine gantry container handling cranes. In addition, the port tenants operate the cruise and cargo terminals which includes their cargo handling and support equipment.

 

To retain the port's competitive rank as a world-class port, in 1997 the port undertook a redevelopment program of over $250 million which is well underway to accommodate the changing demands of cruise vessel operators, passengers, shippers and carriers. To further resolve accessibility, the PortMiami Tunnel was constructed in 2010 and completed in 2014, providing direct vehicle access from the port to the interstate highway system via State Road 836, thereby bypassing congestion in downtown Miami.

 

As part of the massive PortMiami redevelopment program, new ultramodern cruise terminals, roadways and parking garages have been constructed. Additionally, a new gantry crane dock and container storage yards have been constructed along with the electrification of the gantry crane docks to include the conversion of several cranes has been completed. In addition, the Port acquired two state-of-the-art super post-panamax gantry cranes which are amongst the largest in the world; able to load and unload 22 container (8 foot wide each), or nearly 200 foot, wide mega container ships. This, along with the planned Deep Dredge Project, would make it possible for PortMiami to facilitate even the future largest containerships in the world, the Maersk Triple E Class. The new and restructured roadway system with new lighting, landscaping and signage greets visitors to the 'Cruise Capital of the World and Cargo Gateway of the Americas'. The roadways will change again with the completion of the PortMiami Tunnel. And to enhance cargo port accessibility, the newly constructed Security Gates opened at the end of 2006 to increase the processing rate for container trucks and help eliminate the daily traffic backups.

 

In March 2018, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings unveiled details on the new NCL-dedicated terminal at PortMiami. The company intends to open it by fall 2019.

 

In July 2018, MSC Cruises announced its plans to build Terminal AAA for its upcoming World-class cruise ships.[

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PortMiami

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Uploaded on March 11, 2019
Taken on March 2, 2019