PortMiami — one of the main revenue drivers for Miami-Dade County — faces a potentially existential threat: the absence of a place to store its fuel.
Miami-Dade Commissioners on Thursday directed the county administration to look for any possible locations to build a fuel facility at the port after the county’s existing fuel depot was sold off just last month.
PortMiami is home to the world’s largest cruise terminal and saw 8.2 million passengers in fiscal year 2024.
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The loss of a fuel depot means the cruise ships that bring in billions of dollars into Miami-Dade’s economy could find themselves without an accessible fuel source, leaving some leaders to worry that they might find another place to do business.
“There's a certain tipping point where it costs too much and ships go someplace else. I felt like at the last meeting we were playing with fire. This meeting we're playing with hell,” county commissioner Oliver said at a commission meeting held Thursday morning.
The sale
PortMiami, which sits on an island in Biscayne Bay off the coast of downtown Miami, has no on-site fuel depot. The port has instead stored hundreds of thousands of barrels of fuel in a privately-owned bunker on the nearby Fisher Island to the southeast.
The Fisher Island property went up for sale earlier this year, and was bought by real estate investment company HRP Group for a reported $180 million in September. Commissioners held a special meeting on September 18 after cruise industry leaders urged them to secure the fuel depot. The sale was finalized on September 30.
HRP Group plans to build a large-scale development at the bunker site. Fisher Island is home to luxury residences.
The finalized sale has left the county administration scrambling as it now decides whether to acquire the bunker site via eminent domain or build a new fuel depot on-site at the port.
Commissioners criticized the administration for not bringing this issue to their attention sooner — as the sale had been advertised earlier in the year — and for potentially putting one of the county’s main economic drivers at risk.
“We find ourselves in a situation where we may not be able to provide fuel for the industry that we so say we care about and we cherish. It's really unfortunate that we find ourselves in this predicament,” said Commissioner René Garcia.
What’s next
Miami-Dade officials are scheduled to attend a mediation with the new owners of the Fisher Island site to discuss confidential details of the purchase and a potential compromise on the land. If the mediation does not end favorably, the county has signaled it may begin eminent domain proceedings to take the land. The property owner has agreed not to approve any development plans on the property which could increase its land value until mediation is complete.
While that process is ongoing, commissioners also requested that the county administration look for viable sites on the Port Miami island to build a county-owned fuel facility.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado noted that Miami-Dade does not know what condition the fuel depot on Fisher Island is in, nor how long it will remain functional. She expressed concern that if the county defaults to buying the Fisher Island property, it may be stuck with a facility that will be defunct within a short period.
“ I do not believe that it is a long-term solution and this port should not kick the can … when we have the opportunity to do something that would truly be transformative. Port Miami deserves energy independence,” Regalado said.
The private mediation with HRP is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 20. The county administration is expected to give a report to the commission on Oct. 21.
