Tampa Bay Port News

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.

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.

Port Manatee’s Berth 12 dredging project – the final piece of the Tampa Bay port’s 11-year, $200 million expansion – enters its third week with 25 percent of the project complete. The 1,584-foot berth will be dredged to a depth of 41 feet at mean-low-water and is on target for completion in October. “This sends a message to the industry and opens the door to advance Port Manatee’s future in containerized shipping,” said the port’s Executive Director David L. McDonald PPM®. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock…