TransMontaigne has completed a $180 million sale of its PortMiami marine fuel terminal on Oct. 13, according to a report by Ship & Bunker.

The company also agreed to a leaseback contract to retain control of operations at the facility, the website added.

Located on Fisher Island, the fuel depot has been in the middle of a crisis that could see PortMiami losing its only bunker supplier.

According to Ship & Bunker, the fuel storage will remain operated by TransMontaigne under the leaseback arrangement.

The deal will allow the company to continue its existing operations servicing its current customer agreements, the company was quoted as stating.

The website added that it is unclear whether the leaseback agreement is a temporary arrangement.

Serving as the only fuel source for vessels operating at PortMiami, the Fisher Island Terminal can hold up to 700,000 barrels of bunker storage.

TransMontaigne announced plans to sell the facility earlier this year, noting that the proceeds will be used for “the repayment of certain debt obligations.”

According to WLRN South Florida, the fuel depot was acquired by the real estate investment company HRP Group.

The new owner is said to have plans to transform the area into a large-scale luxury housing development.

At a recent Miami-Dade Commission meeting last Thursday, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that her administration is now considering solutions for the fuel supply in PortMiami.

Options include acquiring the current facility from its new owner or building a new on-port fuel farm, she said.

Representing the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean Group’s President and CEO, Jason Liberty, said that any proposed solution has to address continued fuel supply.

“The issue for us at hand is the certainty element,” he said, noting that the construction of a new bunker site could take up to a decade.