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Tampa Port Authority News

23 Dec 2014

PlateSmart Ups Security at Port Tampa Bay

Photo: PlateSmart

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.

16 Nov 2012

AAPA ‘Trade Routes’ Workshop to Address Trade Trends

Kurt Nagle, AAPA president and CEO

The assumption that trade conditions and infrastructure will drive future transportation changes will be the overriding theme at the sixth annual American Association of Port Authorities’ (AAPA) “Shifting International Trade Routes” workshop in Tampa, Fla., Jan. 24-25, 2013. The 1½-day program, which is being cosponsored by the U.S. Maritime Administration and hosted by the Tampa Port Authority, will address the range of issues related to dynamic, global and hemispheric trade.

21 Jul 2011

ACP and TPA Renew Memorandum of Understanding

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Tampa Port Authority (TPA) have signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase cooperation, such as joint marketing, between the Panama Canal and the Port of Tampa. It will also seek to bolster trade along the “All-Water Route,” the route from Asia to the U.S. Gulf Coast via the Panama Canal. The two entities first signed an MOU in 2005, which was renewed in 2008. The latest agreement is renewable for an additional five years. ·         Technological Interchange of advanced technology capabilities and programs to spur cutting-edge initiatives in the shipping and maritime community.

30 Mar 2010

Crowley Christens ATB Tank Vessel in Tampa

Photo courtesy Crowley Maritime

On March 26, Crowley Maritime Corporation christened the eighth of 10 new 185,000-barrel Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) tank vessels that the company will take delivery of by 2011. The vessels christened were the tug Achievement and barge 650-8. Sure to be no stranger to the Tampa waterfront, the vessel is scheduled to visit the port once a week as it carries petroleum products for Marathon Oil Corporation. The vessel joins other Crowley owned and or managed vessels - ATB Pride/650-7 and tankers Coast Range…

20 Jan 2009

Chouest Purchases Tampa Shipyard

On November 18, 2008, Edison Chouest Offshore officials appeared before the Tampa Port Authority in an effort to secure the assignment of Tampa Bay Shipbuilding and Repair’s long-term lease agreement with the port. The authority had no objection to the transfer and, on that date, Tampa Ship, LLC was born. Chouest assumed management and operation of the yard in early December. The Tampa shipyard is a full service conversion, overhaul and repair facility that was previously owned by a group associated with Mobile, AL-based Bender Shipbuilding and Repair.

24 Nov 2008

TWIC Deadline –Florida Ports

The U.S. Coast Guard urges maritime workers who have not yet applied for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to apply as soon as possible before unescorted access to regulated waterfront terminals in West Florida, including the ports of St. Petersburg, Tampa and Manatee, Fla., is prohibited. Beginning Jan. 13, maritime workers including terminal employees, longshoremen, truck drivers, agents and contractors must have a TWIC to gain unescorted access to secure areas of any waterfront terminal regulated by the Coast Guard under the Maritime Transportation Security Act. It can take four-to-six weeks from the time of enrollment to the time that an applicant receives their TWIC, so maritime workers need to enroll as soon as possible to meet the Jan. 13 enforcement date.

30 Jan 2008

Ports Must be Ready for Expanded Panama Canal

Panamanian Ambassador to the U.S. Federico Humbert addresses workshop attendees. Briefing a crowd of nearly 200 U.S. port and shipping officials at a Panama Canal expansion workshop last week in Tampa, FL, Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Vice President of Research and Market Analysis Rodolfo Sabonge highlighted the Canal project’s progress and its effect on global trade. The forum also emphasized the benefits and importance of U.S. port development in meeting the anticipated demands of an expanded waterway. Co-sponsored by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and the U.S.

13 May 2002

Tampa Port Leads Florida In Trade With Mexico

Tampa Port Authority Director George Williamson announced Mexico is the Port of Tampa's number one trading partner, leading the 13 other Florida ports in trade with the state's southern NAFTA neighbor. The Port of Tampa transported more than two million tons of goods in 2001, a 47 percent increase in Tampa-Mexico trade since 1999. Mexico & Tampa Bay: Trade and Tourism Ties Conference. Businesses relying on ground transportation are considering other distribution alternatives, as trucking issues at the U.S.-Mexico border intensify. The recent suit filed by labor, environment and trucking industry groups to keep Mexican trucks off U.S. roads has businesses questioning the future of shipping goods by land between the two countries.

16 Nov 2004

Immigration Ops Nets 14 Illegals in Port of Tampa

Paul I. Perez, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Steven J Trent, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Frank Cioffi, Resident Agent-in-Charge, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Lance Newman, Special Agent-in-Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), today announced the unsealing of indictments and the arrest of 14 individuals on charges that include social security fraud, possession of counterfeit alien registration card, and unlawful re-entry following deportation. This has been a yearlong investigation that culminated early today as federal, state, and local law enforcement began rounding up those individuals indicted.

30 Apr 2007

Hearing on Implementation of SAFE Port Act

On April 26, the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime & Global Counterterrorism of the House Committee on Homeland Security conducted an oversight hearing on implementation of the SAFE Port Act. In his opening statement, Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) complained about the continual missing of deadlines in the port security program. RDML Craig Bone (US Coast Guard), Mr. Jayson Ahern (US Customs and Border Protection), and Ms. Maurine Fanguy (Transportation Security Administration) presented a joint statement summarizing the status of various maritime security programs. In her oral testimony, Ms. Maurine Fanguy discussed some of the complexities of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). She also released the list of TWIC Fixed Enrollment Sites. Mr.

26 Apr 2007

Hearing on Implementation of SAFE Port Act

On April 26, the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime & Global Counterterrorism of the House Committee on Homeland Security will conduct an oversight hearing on implementation of the SAFE Port Act. Witnesses consist of: RDML Craig Bone, US Coast Guard; Mr. Jayson Ahern, US Customs and Border Protection; Ms. Maurine Fanguy, Transportation Security Administration; Mr. Stephen Caldwell, Government Accountability Office; Mr. George Cummings, Port of Los Angeles; Mr. Richard Wainio, Tampa Port Authority; Mr. Leal Sundet, Longshore and Warehouse Union; and Mr. Manny Aschemeyer, Marine Exchange of Southern California. Source: HK Law

20 Apr 2007

Maritime Organizations to Have a Role in Finding New Port Chairman

On the heels of Tampa Port Authority Chairman Steve Pinney announcing his plan to resign from the board, the port has formally begun the process of replacing him. The Port Authority will soon send a formal letter to the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries Association and the Propeller Club confirming Pinney's resignation, effective June 1. From there, the two organizations will come up with a shortlist of nominees that have maritime industry backgrounds, port officials said. Gov. Crist will select Pinney's successor. In the meantime, Pinney will focus on his executive responsibilities at Mosaic Co., which has relocated him to a position at its Plymouth, Minn. headquarters. Source: Tampa Business Journal

20 Jun 2006

Port to Purchase Intrusion Barriers

Tampa Bay Business Journal has reported that the Tampa Port Authority has received a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security that will be used to purchase floating small craft intrusion barriers to protect security zones around critical infrastructure. Skip Volkle, legal counsel at shipper Maritrans, raised concerns about the barriers at Tuesday's board meeting, saying that no discussion had taken place with the Harbor Safety Committee. Wainio said the Port of Tampa would meet with the Harbor Safety Committee but that the impact of the devices to the maritime community was going to be minimal. At the close of the submittal period, one bid had been received from Siemens Building Technologies & Wave Dispersion Technologies Inc.

18 May 2006

Port Approves New Terminal Operator

The Tampa Port Authority on May 16 approved P&O Ports Florida Inc.'s application for a license to perform local terminal and stevedore operations by a 6-0 vote. A national uproar erupted over the prospects of a Middle Eastern company controlling certain U.S. terminal operations. That led to Dubai Ports agreeing to sell its U.S. business to an American owner. A deal is in the works, but in the meantime P&O Florida functions independent of its owner, TMCnet reported. The port continued to review details of a bill the Florida Legislature approved that would revise state guidelines for seaport security. Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to sign the bill into law.

11 Jan 2006

NOAA Study Shows Value of Ports Program

The Tampa Bay economy receives more than $7 million a year in savings and direct income from the operation of the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS), according a new NOAA sponsored study. The report details the first study of the navigational aid, which is in operation at 13 major ports across the United States. Tampa's PORTS system provides accurate real-time oceanographic information tailored to the specific needs of the 6,700 commercial vessels transiting Tampa Bay each year. "The PORTS system is a good example of how research and observing system development expertise can be applied to support safe, efficient and environmentally sound marine transportation," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C.

26 Feb 2003

AAPA and FCCA to Join Forces

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) will work cooperatively to serve the port and cruise industries. The agreement was announced at a meeting of leaders of AAPA and FCCA at the offices of the Tampa Port Authority. Michele M. Stephen A. Nielsen, Vice-President, Caribbean & Atlantic Shore Operations, of Princess Cruises, who serves as chairman of the FCCA Security Operations Committee, added, "It's long overdue that the AAPA and the FCCA work more closely in dealing with issues which affect the members of both associations. Today's agreement expands existing links between the two organizations, according to Kurt J. Nagle, president of AAPA. "Many of AAPA's major cruise ports are also members of FCCA," Nagle noted.

09 Mar 2000

Tampa Bay Shipbuilding - Gearing Up For A Boom

It's one stop shopping on Florida's west coast at Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair, which offers its full service facilities, including three graving docks and direct access from the Gulf of Mexico. Touted by its owners as the largest yard between Pascagoula, Miss. and Hampton Roads, Va., Tampa Bay provides conversions, overhauls and general repair jobs with its 900-ton lift capacity. Owned by the Tampa Port Authority since 1955, the former Tampa Shipyards became Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair on February 1, 1997. According to Henry Perryman, the yard's general manager of operations, the company, who has lured back about 20 repeat customers, has performed various jobs on about 150 ships — ranging from tugs to tankers — since its establishment.

20 Oct 2005

Port Execs to Discuss Hurricane Impacts and Recovery

As part of the American Association of Port Authorities’ 94th Annual Convention here next week (port executives from three of the worst-hit seaports in the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita will gather on Oct. 27, together with a Caribbean port executive whose facilities were ravaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Their goals are to compare notes, detail the challenges they faced (and may still be facing), and assess opportunities for improving preparedness and response to similar crises in the future. The “Hurricane Preparation and Recovery” panel comprises Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans…