Port Canaveral kicks up effort for cargo

[spuwho]

Jacksonville's loss is Port Canaveral's gain?

According to Florida Today:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130609/BUSINESS09/306090024/Port-Canaveral-kicks-up-effort-lure-cargo-biz

Port Canaveral is increasing its sea cargo efforts. With FECI talking about increasing it rail cargo capacity in the Cocoa area, is Jaxport losing an edge?



PORT CANAVERAL â€" The brand-new ship docked at South Cargo Pier 3 on Thursday was a visible sign of the port’s commitment to boost its cargo business. The 656-foot-long Morning Compass and its crew of 24 were picking up a shipment of cars and heavy equipment for Central American and Caribbean markets.

Port officials hope the scene will be more common in the future.

While Port Canaveral is the world’s second-busiest cruise port behind the Port of Miami, it is under the radar as far as cargo ports go.

The port’s interim chief executive officer, John Walsh, and his cargo team are trying to change that.

The Canaveral Port Authority board of commissioners last month approved purchasing two huge “ship-to-shore” cranes from the Georgia Ports Authority for a rock-bottom price of $50,000 and agreed to spend another $3.25 million to get the used cranes here from Savannah, Ga., refurbish and install them.

Walsh said the cranes will help attract shipping lines and terminal operators to the port. Funding would come from the port’s capital budget and a $1.5 million Florida Department of Transportation grant.

In addition, the port is seeking a highly competitive U.S. Department of Transportation grant to help provide a connection from the port through the barge canal to a rail spur in Port St. John so that shippers can more easily transport their products by barge from the port to a Florida East Coast Railway freight train. The port is seeking $14.5 million in federal money for the overall project of $23.5 million. The balance of the cost would be paid by the state, the port and private investments from cargo operators and the Florida East Coast Railway.

Port Authority Chairman Tom Weinberg said he likes the idea of the port pushing an expansion in its cargo business.

“I think it’s clear that John Walsh and his staff are making an aggressive effort to develop cargo at Port Canaveral,” Weinberg said. “Jobs related to cargo are high-paying and would be a benefit to the economy of Brevard County. We’ve got a lot of untapped potential.”

[spuwho]

PORT CANAVERAL CARGO TONNAGE
These are the amounts of cargo that passed through Port Canaveral from Oct. 1, 2012, to April 30, 2013, in tons.
Petroleum
1,685,553
Slag
187,374
Rock/granite
152,397
Salt
148,910
Aggregate/
limestone
116,713
Fertilizer
52,123
Citrus
concentrate
19,954
Single-strength juice
13,124
Sand
11,877
Lumber
8,134
Cars and trucks
5,107
Waste paper
2,979
Bananas/
plantains
416
Fresh citrus
72
Miscellaneous other
1,214
Source: Canaveral Port Authority

[thelakelander]

I think AAF's proposed spur to Orlando will eventually be huge for Port Canaveral.

[spuwho]

FEC says they are getting more requests to deliver freight to Cocoa.  And with Port Canaveral reporting more exports there, there has to be a relationship. FEC freight boss, when asked about AAF, responded more quickly to adding capacity from Jacksonville to Cocoa (extended sidings to 2nd rail) than anything else.

Is FEC just doing a better job with shippers in the southeast and drawing business, or is there a competitive advantage at Canaveral?

[I-10east]

Good news about another city that's barely in the region automatically = bad news for Jax...

[fsujax]

The State has too many darned ports and not enough money to go around. Our mayor has already said no local tax dollars will be spent on our port, he just expects the feds to pay for everything, where does he think they get the money? If we aren't willing to spend local dollars to help our port then I am afraid JaxPort will lose out completely.

[tufsu1]

maybe JaxPort should bond its own projects....isn't that partially why we created independent authorities to begin with?