Hundreds of used vehicles destined for buyers in Cayman are piling up at the port of Kingston, resulting in one Japan-based vehicle exporter, Beforward, suspending shipments to Cayman due to the backlog. Most of those vehicles, which have been sitting at the port for weeks, were purchased online from Asian suppliers.

The suspension will last for two months, giving sufficient time for the backlog in Jamaica to be cleared. Cayman’s Port Authority Acting Director Joseph Woods has confirmed the backlog of cars destined for Cayman in Jamaica.

However, he is suggesting that his department is not at fault for the backlog, which he said is due to external circumstances.

More vehicles for Cayman

The backlog is expected to worsen with news that another shipment of vehicles, numbering 800, destined for Cayman, is on route to Jamaica. Woods, in speaking with the Cayman Compass, reportedly confirmed knowledge of the impending shipment to Jamaica.

He told the Cayman Compass that, “there is ample storage for cars at all of our locations…there is a backlog of cars, but that is located in Jamaica, and we have been trying to resolve the situation [with] Seaboard Marine, which is the company that transports the vehicles from Jamaica to Cayman.”

The Cayman’s Port Authority acting director believes that the backlog is being aided and abetted by the current COVID-19-suppression measures being implemented by the Jamaican Government.

Like the Compass, Sunday Finance reached out to the Port Authority of Jamaica but were unable to get an official word on the backlog and what’s being done to solve the problem. The Cayman Compass was initially told that no one would be in the office until April 19.

Checks made by Sunday Finance showed a fully packaged vehicle storage location at the port of Kingston. The Cayman Compass reported that the Cayman vehicle storage area at the port of Kingston had reached full capacity and no more vehicles were being taken on until the backlog was cleared.

The delays by the owners of the vehicles in Cayman getting their vehicles is becoming frustrating, as companies and individuals say they have been waiting for weeks with some of their vehicles parked at the Jamaican port for nearly a month.