Eyerdam to head Miami River Group

Eyerdam to head Miami River Group

Eyerdam

   Veteran shipping journalist Rick Eyerdam has been named executive director of the Miami River Marine Group, replacing Francis Bohnsack as executive director of the not-for-profit, private maritime business organization.
   Bohnsack is going to work in the Gateway program at the Maritime Administration for a region that includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Puerto Rico, During the past 16 years Bohnsack worked at the grass roots level organizing the maritime businesses along the Miami River.
   The group said the Miami River is the fifth-largest port in the state of Florida, providing shipping links to the shallow draft ports of the Caribbean and Central and South America. It estimates Miami River cargo transshipment is estimated at $4 billion per year.
   Thirty-two terminals, all privately owned, are located all along the river, but primarily concentrated in Dade County’s westernmost navigable stretch of the channel. They serve ships ranging from 500 to 2,566 gross tons.
   Eyerdam was an editor for Florida Shipper magazine until it closed in 2009. Since then he has been working as a maritime industry consultant and magazine writer for Latin Trade Magazine and Caribbean Maritime Magazine.
   An avid boater and fisherman, Eyerdam is also the founder and first president of the Florida Keys Artificial Reef Association.