WorldCity Business Magazine

Q&A with Charles Towsley

by Mary Dempsey

Q&A with Chuck Towsley

Many in South Florida’s shipping and cruise community were surprised when Charles Towsley, director of the Port of Miami, announced that he’d be leaving the job effective June 5. The 58-year-old Midwesterner, who spent eight years at the helm of the port, spoke with WorldCity about his beginnings, his plans and what’s ahead for his successor.

Why are you leaving the Port of Miami?

Last year I read Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat. It got me thinking about international trade and globalization and it changed my perspective somewhat. It got me thinking about what I’m doing and what I’d rather be doing. If you have the knowledge base and a computer, you can work anywhere in the world.

What were you doing that you wanted to leave?

I’m doing more and more of the administration work, county compliance-type of management, and I’d rather be working on real port projects.

How will you get back on real port projects?

I have incorporated Maritime Directions Inc., my company that will be become active upon my departure from the Port of Miami. I want to be working on projects, projects that I can pick that are maritime related.

South Florida projects?

Projects anywhere in the world.

Are you going to take a break before you get going with your new company?

My wife says I should. But I’m not much of a vacation person.

Doing consulting again takes you full circle, doesn’t it?

Yes, I started as a consultant. I was an urban development consultant specializing in industrial and commercial and heavy works in the private sector for marine shipping companies in development companies. Then I started to work for local port authority in Hamilton.

Hamilton, Ontario? Canada?

Yes, I grew up partly in Hamilton. After I got my master’s degree at the University of Michigan I moved back. I did a year with the Ministry of the Environment working on water quality … and I started working for the private sector. Then the Hamilton Port Authority had a 135-acre marine industrial park they wanted to develop. I got involved in that. It was 1982.

*Was your degree in something related to shipping or the sea? *

My master’s was in water quality. My undergraduate degree was in biology, but I was interested in water quality. I’ve always lived around water. Water always seemed to be a theme in my life.

It’s a long way from Ontario to Miami.

I was working at Hamilton water commission and my mother retired to Sarasota. Being the good son, I made the annual trek down to visit and I got to know the Sarasota area. When the deputy port director job in Tampa opened up I applied and I moved down to take it. I was there from1991 to 1998, working first as the deputy port director then as senior deputy port director. Then in 1998 I took the job in Miami.

What are you proudest of during your tenure at the Port of Miami?

We had a number of firsts while I was here. We were the first major cruise port to do long-term agreements with the cruise lines, which allowed us to make major investments. We’re the first port to exceed 1 million TEUS [twenty-foot equivalent units, a standard cargo volume measurement]. We’re very proud of that. We’re still the cruise capital of the world. You may see ports that include higher ports, but they include the day cruises to nowhere we don’t. We had 3.6 million passengers embarking and disembarking. We’ve had a number of firsts on the security front. We’re the first port to require criminal background checks of everyone working. We’re the first port to install gamma ray inspection units. We’ve done hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvements.

And what did you fail to finish?

The next five years should be focused on deepening the port and working with the state on, hopefully, getting the port tunnel.

Do you think the tunnel will happen?

Technically it’s a real project. The state is moving forward on technical fronts. They hope to have a contractor named and in place. It’s just a point of moving to get the tunnel paid over the long run. This is a 30- to 50-year investment to resolve the congestion issue, not just for the port but for downtown.

If it doesn’t happen?

Without the tunnel there will be gridlock.

During your time at the port, have there been any surprises for you?

I wouldn’t say there were surprises I’ve been at this too long to be surprised. But this port is unique. It’s unique in its geography, which relates to its market. It’s both a container port and the cruise capital of the world, so there’s a balance between cruise and government.

It’s unusual that passengers and cargo enter or leave the port together, isn’t it?

Most other ports have multiple access points. I don’t know of any other port that has our setup. Take Port Everglades, for example. The fuel trucks don’t use the same entrance as the cruise passengers. With our port comes some advantages you can control the traffic from a security standpoint better. The big challenge has been to separate the cruise and cargo traffic.

You were used to working in cargo ports. Was the cruise side difficult for you?

The cruise side is really the sexy side of the business. It has different elements to it, different logistics, even though there’s a saying that passengers are just cargo that talks back. The cruise industry is a customer-driven business. It’s a vacation industry. We have to be sure about the logistics of moving that many passengers on and off safely and securely in a short amount of time. When the cruise ships are in, the cruise terminals come to life and start humming. There’s a lot going on that people don’t see. It all happens very quickly, like a ballet.

What do you think your successor should pay attention to?

Port-governance structures around the state and around the world vary quite a bit. Just in Florida there are 14 deep-water ports and within those 14, there are four different governance structures. The Tampa Port Authority is an independent district, it’s a creature of the state, created by statute by the state of Florida Essentially it operates as a public entity, not as part of a larger municipal or city government.

And Miami?

Miami is not run independently outside the county government. That makes a big difference.

In what ways?

You can have to comply with the rules and regulations of the larger county in terms in procurement. That’s a whole other element that’s larger than the entity itself. There are rules and processes you go through that are outside the seaport itself.

What are the pluses to that kind of system?

The resources. We have a very large legal department that is very capable. We have large and very capable IT section and we can draw on. The purchasing power for Miami-Dade County is significant.

You asked me earlier about surprises. One thing I did not expect is how much time I would spend off the port, dealing with off-port issues.

Like what?

Access to and from the port. I spent a lot of time dealing with how you get to and from the port, being sure you had efficient cooperation.

Is that going to be the challenge for your successor?

As South Florida continues to grow, we are all faced with increasing congestion on our road systems, both on the highway and on the local road system. Those transportation challenges need to be met.

Overall, is handling one port just like handling another port?

Ports are like snow flakes. To the general public they all look the same on the surface. But the details are different.