(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — Since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 19, TOTE Maritime’s vessels have brought cargo to the island nine times, delivering more than 7,200 containers of food, water, oxygen, generators and other essential relief and recovery items. This is along with the regular day-to-day commercial needs for the island.
Through its efforts, TOTE Maritime has supported a 20 percent increase in cargo movement to the island. TOTE Maritime and its customers are working closely together to ensure the most critical items are receiving priority status, expediting their movement off the ships and into the communities.
This would not be possible without the engagement of key transportation partners including truckers, stevedores, Puerto Rican Tax Department (Hacienda) and the Puerto Rico Port Authority. This ongoing partnership and coordination has ensured a steady flow of cargo leaving the terminal once a ship arrives.
Offloading goods quickly and efficiently is also an integral step in the delivery and distribution process. Puerto Rico Terminals has been a critical partner and supported a significant increase in vessel traffic and cargo as relief goods are being sent to the island. Immediately following Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico Terminals brought eight engineers to Puerto Rico to re-establish crane operations and generator power that is necessary for unloading cargo in the port. Puerto Rico Terminals continues to accommodate additional vessels and to date has offloaded more than 9,000 containers including seven relief ships for the people of Puerto Rico.
TOTE Maritime’s Isla Bella arrived Tuesday night with more than 1,050 containers and Perla del Caribe is expected to arrive in San Juan this weekend. As of this week, the movement of cargo at the TOTE Maritime terminal in San Juan has returned to the levels seen before Hurricane Maria.
