Upgrades to PortMiami's Bunkering Infrastructure Could Lower Prices

Operators were quoted as saying the price premium at PortMiami is about $40 per metric tonne

PortMiami is looking to upgrade its bunkering infrastructure to lower prices and reduce refuelling time, local media reports.

All bunkering currently takes place via barge, with fuel delivered to the port from a terminal on Fisher Island.

The process of filling the barge and towing it to port taking some 6 hours before bunkering begins, a situation that cruise and cargo ship operators say is not only time consuming, it is also costly.

Operators were quoted as saying the price premium at PortMiami is about $40 per metric tonne (pmt) over other Eastern Seaboard ports, and as a result they avoid bunkering at the port.

However the price differential has also been attributed to low competition.

Following a study, county-retained Coral Gables-based AECOM has recommended an on-dock fueling terminal to improve matters, although such a solution is expected to drop fuel costs by $1.17 per barrel, a reduction deemed not enough to prompt a significant increase in bunker business.

It would, however, cut the port’s annual fueling operating cost by $3.2 million.

The solution would also require as much as 10 acres, and one of PortMiami’s marine fuel goals is to conserve port acreage as long as there’s another viable option for a fueling infrastructure upgrade.

Alternative solutions include an on-port bunker terminal and a dockside hydrant system at a cost of $41.9 million.

That would require one berth position and have an annual operating cost estimated at $2.8 million.

Building a pipeline between Fisher Island and PortMiami was also suggested, a project that has an estimated capital cost of $17.7 million and would take less than half an acre of port land.

It has also been suggested that the port could reduce bunker prices by setting up a buying consortium.