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Well Connected
Florida’s transport system offers an easy ride for people and products by air, sea, road and rail.
SEAPORTS |
| » 70% of Florida’s international commerce moves by water. |
| » Every Florida business is within 90 miles of at least one of 14 deepwater seaports. |
Steaming Ahead
Florida’s 14 deepwater seaports — all of which ship and receive both domestic and international cargo — are vitally important in a state that is virtually surrounded by water.
Port of Tampa — Expansion of the container terminal at Hooker’s Point, including the extension of Berth 213, continues. Over the next several years, Tampa Port Authority plans to quadruple the terminal’s size to keep up with its thriving container business.
Port Manatee — With the completion of its new 1,300-foot ship turning basin and expansion of Berths 4 and 5 — now open with 1,200 linear feet of deep-draft berthing — Port Manatee can accommodate Panamax-sized vessels. Dredging will soon begin on a new South Channel, extending Berth 12 from 1,000 to 1,584 feet. With the completion of the 174,000-square-foot Warehouse 11, Port Manatee will have more than 1 million square feet of new office and warehouse space.
Port Canaveral — $1.8 million has been targeted for a new radio communications network. Also in the works, a new Emergency Operations Center.
 Cargo moving through Port Manatee [Photo: Manatee Port Authority] |
Port Panama City — Construction on a $9-million warehouse that will be used by Green Circle Bio Energy Inc. to export upwards of 300,000 tons of compressed wood pellets to Europe will be completed by the end of 2007. The port also has completed a $2.4-million renovation project involving a rework of roads and rails.
Port of Jacksonville — Asian carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Limited (MOL) is expected to complete its $225-million container terminal at Dames Point by December 2008. The 158-acre state-of-the-art terminal will be the “most efficient on the East Coast,” says JAXPORT Executive Director Rick Ferrin. He adds that the port has a “good shot” at getting dredged to 45 feet by 2012, which will enable JAXPORT to accommodate Panamax-sized ships.
Port of Pensacola — Long-term lessee CEMEX has installed new equipment to increase unloading efficiency and allow more products to move through the facility. In all, CEMEX invested about $9 million for the “unloader” as well as a warehouse retrofit. Martin Marietta, another long-term tenant, has maintained strong imports of a Bahamian aggregate that supplies the local construction industry.
