A total of USD33 million in state grants have been allocated to US East Coast PortMiami over the next five years, according to Miami-Dade County.
The grant allocations will help fund the expansion to Cruise Terminal F into a mega cruise facility able to process more than 5,000 cruise passengers at a time.
Funds will also be utilized for the procurement of three additional Super-Post-Panamax cranes, as well as upgrades to cargo terminal yards in an effort “to create efficiencies in operations for higher densities in container throughput.”
The grants come on the heels of another record-breaking year for both cargo and cruise passenger numbers at the port.
PortMiami had a 14 percent increase in its containerized cargo in 2014-15, and another two percent increase in Fiscal Year 2015-2016 for a total of 1.03 million TEUs.
Additionally, some 4.98 million cruise passengers transited through PortMiami.
“The Port is big ship ready, and it anticipates continued growth as some of the world’s largest ocean carriers have formed alliances and deployed bigger vessels for their international shipping routes. Additionally, cruise line partners have also announced their plans to expand business at the port,” according to the County.
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