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Florida’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, invited Tuesday shipping companies to transport their goods through his state’s ports, given the shortages in the supply chain and delays at important ports such as those in California.
Stalled shipping lanes on the high seas complicate the smooth running of the country’s supply chain, which is why the Biden administration began to take measures to avoid shortages at Christmas. For that reason, DeSantis joins the efforts to find a solution before December.
Under the slogan “Florida’s ports are open,” DeSantis said his state has the capacity to alleviate the bottlenecks that continue to occur at the country’s major ports.
Calling on shipping lines to negotiate in Florida
DeSantis announced that JAXPORT, the Jacksonville port authority, is offering incentive packages to businesses who want to move their cargo through these ports,” and reported that German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd last week rerouted its Atlantic Loop 3 to pass through the Port of Jacksonville.
“Port Everglades recently welcomed the container ship MSC Stella with nearly 7,000 containers last weekend and the container ship MSC Susanna with 9,200 containers will arrive this weekend from India through the Suez Canal,” DeSantis said.
In addition, according to local media Ponte Vedra Recorder, the port authority’s call will last at least eight weeks and will attract approximately 1,000 additional containers a week through JAXPORT.
The Republican noted the importance of long-term investments in port activity and affirmed that Florida’s ports will operate 24/7. He also recalled that, since taking office in Florida, nearly $1 billion has been allocated to more than 70 port projects.
Port leaders from across the state joined DeSantis in delivering a message to shipping companies, “We want to negotiate with you.”
Recently, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg acknowledged that the nation’s supply chain problems will last until next year.
