Port Canaveral

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Florida Ports

Port Canaveral

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Wikipedia:WikiProject Florida

Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo and naval port in Brevard County, Florida. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world with nearly 1.3 million multi-day cruise passengers passing through during 2007. As deep water cargo port, it has a high volume of traffic. Over 3,000,000 short tons (2,700,000 t) of bulk cargo moves through each year. Common cargo includes cement, petroleum and aggregate. The port has conveyors and hoppers for loading products directly into trucks, and facilities for bulk cargo containers.

There is 750,000 square feet (70,000 m²) of covered freight storage capacity. It handled 4,000,000 short tons (3,600,000 t) of cargo in 2004. The port exports fresh citrus; bulk frozen citrus juice stored in one of the largest freezer warehouses in the state; cement and building materials. The port receives lumber, salt for water softening, automobiles, and steel sheet and plate. It transships items for land, sea, air and space. Port Canaveral's Foreign Trade Zone is among the largest general purpose FTZs in the nation - over 5 square miles (13 km²). The port boosts Brevard's economy by 1/2 billion dollars annually.

In April 2007, shipping was off 25.6% for the previous six months compared to the previous year, down to 295,965 short tons (268,495 t) per months.^[1] This had risen to 352,509 short tons (319,791 t) in December 2008.^[2]

Governing authority

Port commissioners are elected from the surrounding area by popular vote. They must live in specific areas, but are elected by voters in all five districts. The races are partisan.
District 1 - Raymond P. Sharkey
District 2 - Joe D. Matheny
District 3 - Tom Goodson
District 4 - Ralph Kennedy (Resigned on 11/2/2009 effective 10/30/2009. Under criminal investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for political corruption, citing bribery as the heart of the probe.)
District 5 - Malcolm "Mac" McLouth

Salary is $10,083.72 annually.

Chief Executive Officer (appointed) - J. Stanley Payne

History

Concept and early development

Port Canaveral welcome sign. Note the anchor and Space shuttle logo.

The idea of developing a port at this location was first conceived in the 1880s. Dedication occurred November 4, 1953, with the navy destroyer escort USS McClelland (DE-750) participating. Noah Butts, a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, was the first Chairman of the Canaveral Port Authority.^[3] The first port manager, George King, was announced in 1954. Commercial fishing had already begun at the port, and in the next year commercial shipping began, with a load of bagged cement delivered by the SS Morman Spruce. In 1955, the Tropicana Corporation began building a refrigerated warehouse for storing orange juice, a local agricultural product, prior to shipping.

Cruise traffic appeared at the port in 1964, with the SS Yarmouth Castle, recently purchased by Yarmouth Cruise Lines from the Chadade Steamship Company. The ship was American owned, with registration from Panama. The ship burned at sea between Miami and Nassau in 1965, and cruise traffic was limited until the 1980s.

In 1965, a lock was dedicated at the port. The Canaveral Lock is still in operation, and is maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The focus of the port throughout the 1960s and 1970s remained commercial fishing and shipping, with three 400-foot (120 m) cargo piers built on the north side of the Port in 1976, and a succession of warehouses built in the port area.

Port Canaveral has played an role in support of NASA projects out of nearby John F. Kennedy Space Center. Specifically, the Space Shuttle's external tanks are floated into Port Canaveral for each mission from their fabrication facility in Mississippi, and the solid rocket boosters are towed back through Port Canaveral after being fished out of the Atlantic Ocean after each launch.

Prior to its disestablishment in 2000, Premier Cruise Line was headquartered in Cape Canaveral.^[4][5]

In September 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) diverted one cruise line from Canaveral (under contract) to shelter Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

In 2008, Sterling Casino Lines ceased doing business at the port.^[6] But just a week later, the Las Vegas Casino Line began operating gambling cruises. On March 25, 2009 the Las Vegas Casino Line filed for bankruptcy, joining the Sterling Casino on the list of failed 'Casino Lines' to operate out of Port Canaveral.

In 2009, a commissioner resigned and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that it was conducting an investigation into possible corruption at the port.^[7]

Cruise traffic

Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean International, are some of the cruise lines which dock at one of the six cruise terminals. The port has a gambling vessel operated by SunCruz Casinos. The port hosted 109,175 multi-day cruise passengers in October 2008.

Cruise ships docked at Port Canaveral. From left to right: Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean ships.

In the early 1980s, a new port director, Charles Rowland, shifted the focus towards developing the port to a Cruise port. In 1982, a 20,000 square feet (2,000 m²) warehouse on the north side of the port was converted into Cruise Terminal 1. The SS Scandinavian Sea, a 10,427 short tons (9,459 t) ship, was the first cruise ship to homeport at Port Canaveral. Early cruises were simple day cruises out into the ocean and back. The Port then purchased two former Bicentennial exhibit halls from NASA in 1983 and they became Terminals 2 and 3 in 1983. The following year the SS Royale of Premier Cruise Line was homeported at Port Canaveral. The first year-round 3- and 4-day cruises to the Bahamas began. A fourth cruise terminal was Built in 1986. Expansion into the Western Turning Basin began with the construction of Terminal 5. The Carnival Fantasy started sailing from there at that time becoming the first mega-ship to call the Port home.

As of June 2009, the following cruise ships homeports or makes regular stops at Port Canaveral:
Monarch of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) sailing Fridays and Mondays
Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) sailing Sundays
Carnival Sensation (Carnival Cruise Lines) sailing Thursdays and Sundays
Carnival Glory (Carnival Cruise Lines) sailing Saturdays
Disney Wonder (Disney Cruise Lines) sailing Thursdays and Sundays
Disney Magic (Disney Cruise Lines) sailing Saturdays
Carnival Pride (Carnival Cruise Lines) visits Wednesdays

Carnival Cruise Lines announced that its new 130,000 short tons (120,000 t) Carnival Dream will make Port Canaveral its home in December 2009 after several European cruises following its September launch. Norwegian Cruise Line announced that beginning in October 2010, the Norwegian Sun will be homeported at Port Canaveral, offering winter (October to April) 7-night cruises alternating eastern and western itineraries. ^[8]

Statistics

Fiscal year 2007-8 started slowly. There was a 44.5% drop in cargo in October and November compared with the preceding year. Multiday cruise passengers dropped 14.4%, and gambling passengers dropped 23.7%. Cargo slowdown was attributed to a slowdown in construction in Florida due to the weakened housing market. In 2008, cruise passengers held fairly steady at about 200,000 per month for the year.^[9]

In 2007, cement imports, tied to construction, was 13,917 short tons (12,625 t), a drop of 87.6% for the two month comparison with the previous year. Petroleum, the ports largest single import, was 129,256 short tons (117,259 t), a drop of 25% over the same period.^[10]

SeaFest

The SeaFest seafood festival was first held in 1983.^[11] The celebration occurred over three days in early spring, and was co-hosted by the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Canaveral Port Authority. It featured live music, local artists, and seafood. In 2005, the final year of the festival at the port, 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of freshly caught fish, including flounder, Florida rock shrimp, blue crab claws and 100 US gallons (380 l; 83 imp gal) of seafood chowder were consumed at the festival. In 2006, because of security concerns and the site being needed for cargo, the festival was forced to move elsewhere and was renamed. In 2008 it tried to move back but was canceled.

Plans

The Canaveral Port Authority announced in 2006 several plans for the future

• A fuel-tank depot with a pipeline to Orlando International Airport
• Attracting a mega-cruise ship (Freedom of the Seas and Carnival Dream in 2009)
• Widening of the port's channel
• Enlarging the western turning basin
• Construction of an additional cruise terminal
• Expansion of the Disney Cruise line terminal as well as a new parking garage with a direct second level walkway to the terminal.

The rocket booster recovery ship Freedom Star with a spent solid rocket booster (SRB) from the STS-114 launch in tow as it makes it way through Port Canaveral.

Footnotes

External links

• Canaveral Port Authority
• Port Canaveral History
• Port Canaveral Timeline (In pdf format)
• Canaveral Lock
• Live Cam from Port Canaveral

Coordinates: 28°24′37″N 80°36′29″W / 28.410351°N 80.608063°W / 28.410351; -80.608063