Jamaica has long been at the hub of Caribbean maritime transportation and as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, the country is looking to the future expansion of its maritime sector.
The Government of Jamaica is moving aggressively to facilitate a broad range of investments aimed at taking advantage of the opportunities that an enlarged Panama Canal will present.

Jamaica is strategically located astride intersecting sea trade routes that utilize the Panama Canal and is therefore well placed to exploit the opportunities that will arise from its expansion in 2014. Due to its close proximity to the dominant North American market, as well as the emerging markets of Latin America, Jamaica is growing in importance as a venue for container traffic, petroleum products, dry bulk cargo and popular destination for cruise liners.

The Port of Kingston is home to one of the largest transshipment hubs in the Caribbean region and has undergone continuous expansion in capacity in recent years, with large scale investments to further expand, upgrade and deepen the Port of Kingston being well underway. This expansion will allow the port to handle growth both already realized as well as that which is projected in coming years. Jamaica has broad-based maritime ancillary services to support the port infrastructure. As a growing shipping centre, businesses located in Jamaica will be able to handle cargoes destined to and from North, Central and South America, Europe and Asia.

The maritime sector of Jamaica is also bolstered by a modern maritime administration of highly qualified technical and administrative staff. The Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) has worked to position Jamaica as a responsible maritime State within the international maritime community, ensuring the country meets its maritime obligations and supporting the work of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in ensuring safety, security and marine environmental protection.
A category C member of the IMO Council, Jamaica, lead by the MAJ, recently completed a successful audit under the Voluntary International Maritime Organization Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS) and the key operations of the MAJ are also ISO 9001:2008 certified by ABS. With a modern and investment friendly legal framework being developed, Jamaica is poised to take off as the shipping hub of the region.

Imminent areas of development include:
- Terminal operation
- Crewing
- Oil testing laboratory
- Waste reception facilities
- Logistics
- Ship registration
- Petroleum products and bunkering
- Dry docking, including floating dry dock
- Cruise shipping
- Surveying