The Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami-Dade is a seaport located in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. It is connected to Downtown Miami by Port Boulevard, a bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.
The port is recognized as the "Cruise Capital of the World" and "Cargo Gateway of the Americas". It has retained its status as the number one cruise/passenger port in the world for well over a decade accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines. The port was/is a major destination center for cocaine shipments into the US. 80% of the illegal drugs in the United States come through the Port Of Miami .
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, the Port of Miami is among an elite group of ports in the world which cater to both cruise ships and containerized cargo.
The Port of Miami is an important contributor to the local and state economies. Nearly four million cruise passengers pass through the Port and over 9 million tons of cargo and over 1 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit containers) are transited through the seaport per year. This combination of cruise and cargo activities supports approximately 98,000 jobs, and has an economic impact in Miami-Dade County of over $12 billion.
The port currently operates six passenger terminals, six gantry cranes wharves, seven Ro-Ro (Roll-on-Roll-off) docks, four refrigerated yards for containers, a refrigerated warehouse, break bulk cargo warehouses and twelve gantry container handling cranes. Additionally, cargo handling and support equipment are operated by port tenants who operate most of the facilities.
To retain the port's competitive rank as a world-class port, the port has undertaken a redevelopment program of over $250 million which is well underway to accommodate the changing demands of cruise vessel operators, passengers, shippers and carriers.
As part of the massive Port of Miami redevelopment program, new ultramodern cruise terminals, roadways and parking garages are being constructed. A new gantry crane dock and container storage yards have been constructed along with the electrification of the gantry docks to include several cranes has been completed. 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. And to enhance accessibility, the newly constructed Security Gates opened at the end of 2006 to increase the processing rate for cargo trucks and help eliminate the daily traffic backups.
In addition to the redevelopment, 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 wide (containers) mega container ships. And to resolve the user's accessibility, the Port is working with the transportation community and the state of Florida to construct a tunnel between Watson Island and the Port. The tunnel will provide direct access to the interstate highway system for the Port users without having to drive through downtown Miami.
