Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas
Megaport under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas —Spanish: Puerto de las Américas Rafael Cordero Santiago (PLA)[2][3][4]— is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-added tax-free customs-free international shipping hub[5] similar to, though not as large as, the megaports located in Singapore and Rotterdam.[6][7][8] The Port of the Americas is Puerto Rico's main Caribbean port,[9] and, at a depth of 50 feet, it is also the deepest port in the Caribbean.[7]
Port of The Americas | |
---|---|
Location | |
Location | Barrio La Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
Coordinates | 17.969099°N 66.617918°W / 17.969099; -66.617918 |
Details | |
Opened | 1804 (1804) |
Operated by | Autonomous Municipality of Ponce |
Owned by | Ponce Municipal Government[1] |
Type of harbour | Natural/Artificial |
Land area | 1,000 acres (1.6 sq mi) |
No. of piers | 8 |
Executive Director | Carlos I Mejias Algarin |
Cranes | 3 |
Channel depth | 50 feet (15 m) |
Statistics | |
Annual cargo tonnage | 623,271 |
Annual container volume | 250,000 TEU |
Main exports | Scrap metal, chemicals, clinker, cement |
Main imports | Coal, lumber, molasses, syrup, chemicals, gypsum |
Rail traffic | 18,500 tons |
Website www.portoftheamericas.com |
The port was originally overseen by the Port of the Americas Authority (Spanish: Autoridad del Puerto de las Américas) a defunct government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico. As of December 2012, it was overseen by the newly created Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce.[10] The Authority reported that when completed, the new port will have a storage capacity of 2.2 Million TEUs.[11] The Authority also reported that the port handled an estimated 504,044 short tons of cargo in 2007, and projected it to handle over 1.5 million in 2012.[12]
On 12 December 2011, the government of Puerto Rico transferred control of the port to the Ponce municipal government, when governor Luis Fortuño signed[13] to create the Ponce Port Authority—Spanish: Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce (APP)— an independent government-owned corporation ascribed to the Ponce municipal government.[14][15][16][17][18]