A maritime veteran is taking over as PortMiami director during fuel yard turmoil

Miami-Dade County’s mayor recruited a port veteran to try and stabilize PortMiami during a tumultuous time as the county-owned facility scrambles to retain a nearby fuel depot and deals with departures from senior leadership.

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Jonathan Daniels, director of the Port of Baltimore in Maryland, is taking the top job at Miami-Dade’s port. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office did not release salary information for Daniels, but public records show two years ago in his state job at the Baltimore port.

He knows the South Florida maritime industry. In 2024, Maryland hired him away from PortMiami’s top competitor — Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. In Baltimore, he was only on the job for seven weeks when the port faced the biggest crisis in its history after the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge shut down the shipping channel there. The Port of Baltimore reopened and last year set new records in cargo activity.

In Miami, Daniels will be taking over a port facing turmoil over missteps related to a nearby fuel yard. Cruise and cargo ships use the privately owned facility on luxe Fisher Island to refuel, and PortMiami failed to try and purchase the operation when it went up for sale two years ago. Luxury condo developers bought it for $180 million and announced plans to shut down fuel operations in 2027 — sending port administrators and cruise and cargo executives scrambling to undo the development plans.

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Levine Cava’s administration negotiated a deal to purchase it for a reported $400 million, but the mayor ultimately rejected that plan and ousted the two deputies who handled the sales talks — Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morales and PortMiami Director Hydi Webb. Days later, the port executive whom Levine Cava appointed as interim director, Frederick Wong, announced he was leaving, too.

Now, her administration is pursuing legal action to seize the fuel yard through an eminent domain proceeding, where the sales price would be set by a jury.

Daniels takes over PortMiami in August. Levine Cava’s deputy mayor, Roy Coley, will hold the title of interim port director until then.

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