No port stands alone: PortMiami and the resilience of its Caribbean and Mesoamerican maritime network

PortMiami has evolved into a leading port in Florida (USA), providing cargo and cruise services that include the broader region of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and on the frontlines of climate change and rising sea levels, PortMiami is building resilient infrastructure to expand its operations on higher-value cargo. However, these drivers also underscore the need for a resilient maritime supply chain that extends beyond the boundaries of any one port. Given its reliance on trade with other national and international ports, such as the Caribbean and Mesoamerica ones, the resilience of its major partners also impacts the port’s strength. To place the port’s resilience into the context of its partner ports, this study explores PortMiami’s regional maritime network, using network analysis. We analyze port connectivity to other ports in the region based on Tobler’s first law of geography. The paper relies on multiple years of publicly available data on marine traffic, cargo, connectivity, and performance indices from 2015 to 2021. Our analysis identifies PortMiami’s top ten maritime partners and their potential impact on the port’s long-term resilience and growth potential. Several of its critical network members in the region, e.g., Puerto Cortez, Veracruz, Puerto Plata, and St. Thomas, exhibit low resilience with high vulnerability, which needs to be considered for the long-term resilience of PortMiami in the future. This indicates that the medium and long-term resilience of the network in its current form is weaker than most realize when assessing growth trends in cruise passengers and cargo. Finally, the results from recent experiences reveal overall positive gains from pandemic-related disruptions through the development of pharmaceutical trade and an increase in food and perishable trade activity.