The port of Miami reached its highest level of commercial container traffic in August, adding a total of 99,546 units, an increase of 18.5% compared to the same month of the previous year.
According to a Miami-Dade County statement today, the total number of standard container units, some 20 feet (6.1 meters) long, that last month passed through the maritime terminal “broke records” and was due in good part to the investments made in the last years.
The facilities have received more than $ 1.3 billion in infrastructure investment, according to the note, including port dredging, construction of new access to vehicles and the purchase of four “super-Panamax” cranes, the largest in the market and allowing the passage of cargo vessels from the Panama Canal.
“Our seaport has been constantly attracting new business thanks to the more than $ 1.3 billion of completed capital infrastructure investments,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez, who emphasized that the Port of Miami is a “vital economic engine”.
One of the busiest in the United States, the Port of Miami contributes more than $ 41.4 billion annually to the county’s economy and generates more than 324,000 “direct, indirect and induced” jobs, according to local authorities.
The county noted in the note that the increase in traffic is also due to cargo service companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, which included Miami in its Gulf of Mediterranean Service, as well as Seaboard Marine, the largest port that launched two new direct routes linking Miami and Latin America.
