The Caribbean is renowned for its stunning landscapes, crystal-clear waters, and pristine sandy beaches, which draw tourists from around the world to experience the delights that the islands have to offer. However, many of the ports across the Caribbean were built in the 1960s, and so the infrastructure of these ports has struggled to meet both the cruise and cargo demand of the region today. Therefore, significant development is needed to meet these demands and help maintain the competitive nature of the ports across the Islands. However, the ports of the Caribbean are not just commercial; many of the ports are relied upon to deliver food, clothing and shelter for the Caribbean, and so the ports are essential for the survival of the people across the region. Thus, with the ports of the Caribbean playing such a vital role on both a global and local scale, the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC) was established to deliver a unified voice for the region to deliver a better quality of services and the necessary infrastructure needed to develop the Caribbean’s port industry for the future.
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PMAC was formed in 1998, succeeding the previous Port Management Association of the Eastern Caribbean (PMAEC) to improve the proficiency of its member port authorities and the quality of the services provided to users. Through the establishment of human resources, networking and unification amongst the ports of the Caribbean, PMAC aims to meet the ever-changing challenges of the global environment and deliver the ports of the region as hubs for cargo and cruise operations. The need for such an association as PMAC arose after many small ports across the Caribbean were struggling to find a voice within the global shipping industry, with many facing scale issues, often in terms of capacity, due to many ports not having the necessary infrastructure in place to remain competitive in global markets. Therefore, PMAC was established to deliver critical services to its members, to encourage the sharing of experience, information and ideas, as well as advocacy and representation at multilateral levels to deliver a unified voice that can represent the region’s port management associations, and the Caribbean’s shipping industry on a global scale.
Membership across PMAC includes 27 full members, which include port management companies and associations across the Caribbean. The Association also has 41 associate members, including individuals, companies, and organisations that are associated with the port and maritime industry. Members from across PMAC come together for vital networking, collaboration and training to share their experiences, concerns and best practices to help deliver the most cohesive port industry for the Caribbean. One of the central challenges facing the region is that many of the islands across the Caribbean are under different governance, and so this results in varying tariffs, legislation and regulations, which often leaves the overall Caribbean port management industry feeling disconnected. Therefore, PMAC is on a mission to solve these challenges by driving regional integration, delivering a network where governments, international organisations and industry partners can come together with its members to deliver a better and more cohesive shipping environment for the Caribbean.
One of the central challenges facing the ports of the Caribbean is that the infrastructure across many of the region’s ports is not suited to the demands of the shipping and tourism industry of today. Many of the ports were built in the 1960s, and so the infrastructure is designed largely for break-bulk cargo, rather than the more commonly used large, containerised cargo or cruise vessels that we see today. This means that many ports require significant expansion and redevelopment works, to allow them to accept larger vessels and, in the process, enhance the country’s export market. Thus, PMAC acts as a vital hub for Caribbean ports, stakeholders and strategic partners to come together and deliver the necessary port development projects needed to allow the Caribbean to handle the vessels arriving at its shores every day.
Furthermore, networking remains vital to helping establish a more cohesive and competitive port sector for the Caribbean. Therefore, PMAC holds an annual meeting where port owners, operators and stakeholders can come together to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Caribbean Ports. The most recent Annual General Meeting was held in June in Curaçao, Willemstad, and marked the 28th annual meeting under PMAC. The meeting has provided a framework where all port management stakeholders can discuss the problems, successes and developments facing their ports over the last year on a localised level, to help address ways to resolve wider issues in the port management industry on a regional and global level.
Across PMAC’s operations, there is a central focus to enhance the operations of the ports across the Caribbean to first deliver the vital resources needed by those living across the region, and then to optimise the cargo and cruise line industry of the Caribbean. One of the central ways that PMAC is able to achieve this is through the united voice it provides to ports of all sizes across the region. With one unified voice, PMAC can ensure that all ports in the region have a voice when it comes to decisions made on a much wider global scale. Ultimately, PMAC can bring together the vital stakeholders from across its association to work on a positive future for the ports of the Caribbean, with the people who live and work across the region at the heart of every development and infrastructural expansion carried out by PMAC.
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