Port Esquivel is a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

in the south coast of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

that primarily handles aluminium oxide (alumina).

History

The original Puerta de Esquivela was a harbour completed in 1959 and named after the first deputy governor of Jamaica, Juan de Esquivel. Port Esquivel as a loading port was established in the 1950s by Alumina Jamaica Limited. Alumina shipments from the port started in early 1952, when the country's alumina industry was still in its infancy. Port activities were halted during

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlant ...

in September 2004.

Operations

Located west of Kingston, Port Esquivel is primarily an alumina-handling facility but is also the only port on Jamaica's south coast capable of accommodating large ships. Its pier is made of concrete and steel and some of goods can be loaded and processed in 38 hours. Two vessels can berth at the port concurrently. A -long channel allows for the export of alumina and molasses and for the import of fuel oil and other alumina-related products like

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

supplies oil to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) via its oil storage plant on Port Esquivel. Port Esquivel has its own fire brigade.

Environmental impact

According to a 1987 environmental study, alumina pollution at Port Esquivel was negatively affecting the growth of the coastal sea grass; in 1984 alone, close to of seagrass beds were destroyed.

Oil pollution An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

from leakages at the Texaco storage facility similarly damaged the nearby corals.

References

{{coord, 17.894, N, 77.133, W, display=title Populated places in Jamaica