The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (PLA)Transicion 2016-2017: Informe de Estatus de Planes de las Unidades Administrativas. Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce. Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 16 August 2018.Permit Is Approved For Puerto De Las Americas. Puerto Rico Herald. 5 February 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2018.Pactan ampliar la zona libre de comercio del Puerto de las Americas: Almacenes de Comercio y Exportacion se suman al ofreciemiento del PLA a potenciales clientes. Sharon Minelli Perez. El Nuevo Dia. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018. 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 hubPonencia a la Vista Publica del 9 de abril de 2013 de la Comisión para el Desarrollo Integrado de la Zona Sur de la Camara de Representantes del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico Relacionada a la Implementación de la Ley 240-2011 Conocida como "Solucion Ponceña". Patrick Urbain, Architect. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2013. similar to, though not as large as, the megaports located in Singapore and Rotterdam.. El Sur a la Vista. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.Archived at WayBack Machine on 15 July 2011, from the Original Caribbean Business. June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2010.Ponencia del Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce Before the Senate of Puerto Rico. Rafael Cordero Santiago, Alcalde de Ponce. Page 4. Julio 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2013. (For the date of this "Ponencia" (English: presentation), see http://ponce.inter.edu/cai/mega_puerto_eng/puertorico.htm ) The Port of the Americas is Puerto Rico's main Caribbean port,Ponce. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Licensed from Columbia University Press. 2004. Retrieved 23 January 2010. and, at a depth of 50 feet, it is also the deepest port in the Caribbean.
The port was originally overseen by the Port of the Americas Authority () a defunct government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico. As of December 2012, it was overseen by the newly created Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce.Sin cabeza el Puerto de Las Américas. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2019. The Authority reported that when completed, the new port will have a storage capacity of 2.2 Million TEUs.Imponentes Gruas Post-Panamax en Camino a Ponce (In Spanish) 4 December 2009. By Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Port of the Americas Authority.. Retrieved 5 March 2010. 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.Drug Market Analysis 2008: Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. U.S. Dept of Justice. National Drug Intelligence Center. Page 5
On 12 December 2011, the government of Puerto Rico transferred control of the port to the Ponce municipal government, when governor Luis Fortuño signedLey: Proyecto del Senado Numero 2394, Ley 240 de 2011. 16 Asamblea Legislativa. Sexta Sesión. Approved 12 December 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2013. to create the Ponce Port Authority (APP) an independent government-owned corporation ascribed to the Ponce municipal government. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.Nombran a timoneros de Solución Ponceña. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 20 January 2012.Esperan al nuevo gobernador con reclamos para la región sur. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. (Year 36. Issue 1861. 31 July to 6 August 2019. Page 4.) 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
Port of Ponce (current port)
The current port, named the Port of Ponce, is locatedThe location of the Port of Ponce has always been at the Bahía de Ponce. Its facilities --such as its docks-- have been located at three different sites within Bahia de Ponce: The first location (1789 - c. 1900) was at what is now called "Puerto Viejo" (literally, "Old Port"), and was located at approximately the midpoint between Punta Peñoncillo (Punta Peñoncillo is where the current docks are located) and the area immediately south of the end Avenida Hostos Final (See, Eduardo Questell Rodriguez. Ni Uno ni Dos son mas los nacidos en Cayo Cardona. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Es Noticia. Edición 94. 12 to 25 April 2019. p. 6.) The second docks (c. 1898 - c. 1920) were located at what was called El Muelle Americano, The American Dock (See, The Occupation of Ponce. Harper's Weekly. Cover page. Vol. XLII (42), Issue 2176. 3 September 1898. See also, Paul Miller. Historia de Puerto Rico. New York: Rand McNally and Compañia. 1922. p. 413.) The third (c. 1920 - now), and current, port is located on Punta Peñoncillo. in the southern tip of the city of Ponce, 1.5 miles south of the intersection of PR-52 and PR-12. The port was created on 28 February 1789, through the Royal Decree of Spanish King Carlos IV de Borbón. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011. It started operating commercially in 1804.Established on Feb 28, 1789.. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
History
1800–1950 During 1800–1850, the Port of Ponce became the heart of Ponce's economic control. During this time the Port, with its adjacent massive construction of commercial buildings, stores and warehouses, "became more important to the national [Puerto Rican] economy than San Juan's. By 1890 the Port was exporting 33.2% of the national production, compared with 21.2% exported from San Juan."Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 14. Listing Reference Number 08000283. 11 April 2008.
The port has been operated by the municipality of Ponce since 1911, when then-mayor Moret received from the Government of the United States of America a franchise for the city of Ponce to operate the Port of Ponce in perpetuity.Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Brevario Sobre la Historia de Ponce. Second Edition. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. 2002. Page 14. Printed by Impress Quality Printing, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. The port has been an important part of the island's economy, especially to the sugar cane and coffee industry during the first half of the 20th century. In 1913 the municipality completed a covered pier of concrete and steel with ample depth of water and railroad connections. In 1918 almost 20% of merchant traffic into and out of the Island occurred through this port.Annual Report of the Secretary of War, Volume 2. United States War Dept. Page 501. The Ponce port is currently the only port in Puerto Rico that is operated as well as owned by a municipal government.Investments Of $605 Million To Double Ponce’s Business Growth, Create Thousands Of Jobs, And Spearhead The Southern Region’s Tourism. Lida Estela Ruaño. Caribbean Business. 25 April 2002. Retrieved 19 September 2011. The port has 8 piers, numbered 1 through 8.Engavetan su internacionalización: Cambia rumbo el Puerto de Las Américas. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. Peridoico La Perla del Sur. 21 September 2010.
1950s Operations at the Port of Ponce were significantly reduced during the second half of the 20th century, mainly due to the decay of the agricultural industry of the Island and the fact that the government shifted most shipping imports and exports to the San Juan Port located in the island's capital of San Juan. The Port of San Juan became Puerto Rico's main shipping port during this time, experiencing significant expansion projects and heavy traffic year-round, while the Port of Ponce was left to handle mostly local operations. It is estimatedWater Resources Development in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville (Florida) District. 1998. Page 43. Table titled "Navigation: Summary of Statistical Data." that 90% of all goods exported or imported in Puerto Rico passed through the Port of San Juan. It has been reported that the Port of Ponce handles about 40% of Puerto Rico's "loose shipping traffic."[ Loose traffic] These situations led the mayor of Ponce to seek the transfer of Port of Ponce facilities and operations from the government of the Commonwealth to the Ponce municipal government.
1990s Following these ownership changes, several improvements were made to the Port of Ponce, most of them under the administration of late mayor Rafael "Churumba" Cordero Santiago. These improvements includedPonce Harbor, Puerto Rico. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Program and Project Management Division. Jacksonville District Office. Page 2. Retrieved 14 December 2011Digital Projects Notebook. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Program and Project Management Division. Jacksonville District Office. Retrieved 14 December 2011. repaving worn-out roads, the addition of the short Port of Ponce Railroad system for transporting oil and chemicals from ships to holding tanks via tanker cars (although it is now rarely in operationFerrocarriles de Puerto Rico ), and a cruise ship terminal. The port had one quay side crane in operation before the Port of the Americas project got under way, and a second crane was acquired soon after the project began in 2004. The design and addition of a free trade zone within the Port of Ponce has also been studied.Imagen Ponce: Public and Private Interest in the Design of a Free Zone within the Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Hermann Ferre III. Department of Architecture, MIT. June 1989. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
2010s On 12 December 2011, the Government of Puerto Rico transferred control of the Port of The Americas to the Ponce municipal government, when governor Luis Fortuño Burset signed Senate Bill #2393 to create the Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce (Ponce Port Authority) officially. The administration of the Port of Ponce was to also administer the Port of the Americas.