Port Tampa Bay News

Marine Towing of Tampa announced it is expanding its ship assist services to Florida's east coast following a deal with E.N. Bisso & Son to acquire towing assets formerly owned by SEACOR Holdings' Seabulk arm.In September 2023, SEACOR divested its U.S. harbor towing operations, selling to Bisso 12 tugs across ports in Florida and Alabama.Under a recently executed asset purchase agreement with Bisso, Marine Towing of Tampa acquired the Port Canaveral operations and assets from the SEACOR-Bisso deal and will operate them in Canaveral under a newly formed affiliate…

Trade group the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) elected a new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sean Strawbridge of the Port of Corpus Christi, last week during its 111th Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla. Outgoing Chairman Mario Cordero of the Port of Long Beach made the formal announcement during his address to members and attendees.AAPA President and CEO Chris Connor remarked on the transition, "Our work at AAPA is bolstered by the leadership and input of our chairperson and board of directors.

The United States' largest dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation on Wednesday announced the receipt of $107 million in new contract awards along the U.S. East Coast.The awarded dredging work includes: Norfolk Harbor Navigation Improvements Project (Capital, Virginia, $56.8 million), Charleston Lower Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (Maintenance, South Carolina, $15.4 million), Tampa Harbor Maintenance Dredging 45-Foot Project (Maintenance, Florida, $13 million)…

The captain and crew of a Hong Kong-flagged containership came to the rescue of a sailboat crew in distress on Sunday amid severe weather and waves during storm Sally, in the Gulf of Mexico, some 130 nautical miles west of Port Tampa Bay, Fla.The COSCO SHIPPING Lines containership COSCO Malaysia was en route from Mobile, Ala. to Port Tampa Bay when it received a distress call from the sailboat Yes Dear at 8:22 a.m. local time and immediately carried out rescue operations under instruction from local U.S.

Florida's largest port,  Port Tampa Bay has marking a major milestone and partnership with CMA CGM as Port customers, local officials, and business leaders gather to celebrate the inaugural call of the CMA CGM DALILA at The Ports America Terminal.CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, begin their weekly direct ocean carrier service between Asia and Port Tampa Bay today. CMA CGM's excellent transit times will significantly improve the competitiveness of the region's importers and exporters, transforming Tampa Bay's economic landscape.With a capacity of 8,500 to 9,500 TEUs (container units) per vessel, these are also the largest container ships ever to call at the Port.

Florida's largest port Port Tampa Bay welcome the announcement by the CMA CGM Group, that it will begin serving Port Tampa Bay in late May 2019 on its Pacific Express 3, or PEX3 service.With a presence in 160 countries and a fleet of 506 vessels, CMA CGM serves over 420 ports across the globe and is a member of the Ocean Alliance. The PEX3 port service rotation will be as follows: Singapore – Vung Tau – Hong Kong – Shekou – Ningbo – Shanghai - Busan – Panama Canal - Houston – Mobile – New Orleans – Tampa – Miami – Singapore."We are delighted with this announcement by CMA CGM," said Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay President and CEO. "This is a further testament to the growth of the US Gulf market and the significance of the Tampa Bay/I-4 Corridor region…

Hendry Marine Industries, Inc. (HMI) (along with its affiliated companies Gulf Marine Repair Corporation, Universal Environmental Solutions, LLC, and Anchor Sandblasting and Coatings, LLC) offers a broad range of maritime services in Port Tampa Bay, including commercial and government ship repair, steel fabrication, gas-freeing, tank cleaning, slop services, lead and asbestos abatement, brokered waste and blasting and coating. The Hendry family entered the maritime business in 1926 when Captain F.M. Hendry started a construction aggregate business and then later a dredging business.

Port Tampa Bay approved a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with four other entities to divvy up who will pay for a $60 million widening and extension of the Big Bend Channel. The strategic partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Tampa Electric Co. and Mosaic Co., a global fertilizer company which is one of port's largest tenants along with Tampa Electric. The port's board of commissioners unanimously approved the participation agreement at a monthly meeting on Tuesday. The Big Bend Channel connects to the Tampa Harbor main channel and will be deepened from 34 feet to 43 feet and widened from 200 feet to 250 feet to accommodate larger ships.

The Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship Norwegian Jade will set sail from Port Tampa Bay during the upcoming winter cruise season. Port Tampa Bay officials welcomed the 2,402-passenger ship for the 2016-2017 fall/winter cruise season. Norwegian Jade is replacing the Norwegian Star, which sailed from Tampa last year, according to a news release. Norwegian Jade will sail Sundays to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatán and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' new southern Belize destination, Harvest Caye. The ship will also operate two eight-day holiday sailings this month that add a stop at Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. Guests sailing on Norwegian Jade will also be able to enjoy further Caribbean adventures with two 10-day and two 11-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Tampa.

The tallest port crane in North America was recently raised to that height by ZPMC, which raised the crane 33 feet (10.08 meters) to prepare for Ultra-Large Container Vessels calling at APM Terminal’s Pier 400. In a landmark project that kicked off July 1, 2016, ZPMC NA is upgrading 10 cranes for APM Pier 400 Terminal. When complete, the cranes will be able to service ships carrying up to 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEUs). Prior to this crane raise, the largest vessels that could be serviced at the Port of Los Angeles were 13,000 TEUs. The scope of work also includes installing a new energy-efficient LED lighting system, forestay repairs, and repositioning of all 10 cranes.

A little-known annual American commemoration is coming up again on May 22 - National Maritime Day. It was declared by Congress in 1933 to call attention to America’s proud maritime heritage and to honor the men and women who serve and have served as U.S. merchant mariners. It’s also a day to recognize and reflect on the rewards that America’s ports bring the country in terms of jobs, economic development, goods movement and international competitiveness. For the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas—National Maritime Day offers the nation’s ports a great opportunity to showcase the value of their facilities, operations and personnel to their respective communities.

Host of U.S. A little-known annual American commemoration is coming up again on May 22: National Maritime Day, declared by Congress in 1933 to call attention to America’s maritime heritage and to honor the men and women who serve and have served as U.S. merchant mariners. It’s also a day to recognize and reflect on the rewards that America’s ports bring the country in terms of jobs, economic development, goods movement and international competitiveness. For the American Association…

Port Tampa Bay is spending $21.5 million on a pair of new cranes that will be able to unload bigger container ships, and it is investing millions more to make it easier for trucks and trains to exit the port and be on their way. The cranes will pass beneath the Sunshine Skyway bridge in March and be up and running by May, just before the widened Panama Canal expansion is scheduled to open later this year. With more cargo expected to come to the eastern United States by sea, the port is betting that it can stake a claim to some of the new cargo traffic flowing through the canal. The equipment is on its way to Tampa right now. Officials said the cranes will help open the port up to new business.

Shifting international trade patterns at America’s seaports – with mega-size vessels requiring higher capacity road and rail connections serving ports, along with deeper harbors, bigger cranes and sturdier berths – can bolster a region’s economy while straining its infrastructure. Because there’s no stopping these trade shifts, ports – and the communities they serve – must learn to adapt in order to bolster job growth, prevent traffic snarls and remain competitive. To address these issues…

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) applauded Senate passage over the past weekend of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (TPA-2015), and today sent a letter to House leadership to urge making passage of TPA-2015 a priority. Trade activity through seaports accounts for 26 percent of the U.S. economy, generates over 23 million American jobs, and provides over $320 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues, the AAPA noted.

Port Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest maritime port and the 16th largest in the United States, has elected to implement PlateSmart's ARES enterprise license plate recognition-based video analytics system. Overseen by the Tampa Port Authority, the port handles both commercial and passenger traffic on a daily basis. In addition to being a major hub of the shipping industry with several million tons of cargo are shipped in and out of the port in any given year, the port is a departure point for several cruise lines, and also runs and maintains its own ship repair facilities.

Marine Towing of Tampa, LLC will host a private dedication ceremony on Thursday, June 12 to debut its new tugboat, Patriot, at Port Tampa Bay. The Patriot is one of the few tugboats in the United States with open ocean firefighting capabilities spraying nearly 12,000 gallons per minute at a distance of 400 feet. Built in East Boothbay, Maine, the 93’ long, 5,000 horsepower tugboat equipped with two Tier 3 sixteen cylinder Caterpillar engines and two Rolls-Royce Z-drives will add to the continued growth at all ports and facilities on Tampa Bay and provide additional fire-fighting capabilities in the port and on open water. Marine Towing of Tampa said it has has one of the youngest average fleet ages in the harbor tug business.

International Ship Repair & Marine Services, Inc. (ISR) was awarded a $980,260 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) to partner in the funding of its new, American made, 275-ton Manitowoc crawler crane. According to ISR, fierce competition for a portion of the total $9.46 million awarded through its Small Shipyard Grant Program was evident as MARAD received 113 grant applications requesting project funding of more than $96 million. ISR is one of only 11 other shipyard grant recipients from throughout the United States.