Port Manatee News

Kinder Morgan KMI.N on Wednesday said its Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals in Florida sustained minimal damage due to Hurricane Idalia, and that it was also planning to shut its Charleston area terminals later in the day.The U.S. energy company said it was planning to reopen the terminals on Thursday, while its Tampa facilities including the Tampa refined products terminal and Central Florida Pipeline system have resumed normal operations.The Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals handle commodities such as fertilizers…

As new chief commercial officer of Port Manatee, Charles D. Tillotson looks to bolster diverse cargo growth at the global gateway of Southwest and Central Florida.“Working with the Port Manatee team, my goal is to double the port’s volume of cargo activity over the coming 10 years,” said Tillotson, who brings nearly four decades of maritime industry experience to the position. “We are seeking to build upon Port Manatee’s current trend of record trade by advancing further diverse revenue streams.”Tillotson most recently served as senior vice president of business development for Altamont…

Marine fuel company Lindsay-Blee, along with its joint venture partner Quest Fuels, announced Monday that it will offer very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), meeting the IFO RMG 380 ISO:2010 specification with max sulphur < 0.50% to its clients calling Florida ports. The product will be available in Port Canaveral, Port Tampa, JaxPort, Port Manatee, and all other major ports in Florida, effective immediately.This expansion gives the Lindsay-Blee Group’s customers the ability to source VLSFO from Lindsay Blee’s supply operations in both Florida and Colombia…

Dutch heavy-lift firm Mammoet  has reached an agreement that will enable it to provide offshore wind services at the Port of Coeymans Marine Terminal, in New York.The collaboration allows Mammoet access to the port’s 400-acre marine terminal facility, which is owned and operated by Carver Companies , in Coeymans, New York, conveniently located along the Hudson River 100 miles North of NY City and 10 miles South of Albany, NY.Over the years, Mammoet has developed a relationship with the Port of Coeymans while utilizing the port during the execution of local projects such as the roll-off operation of a fully assembled HRSG module, and the Willis Avenue Bridge project just to name a few.With the agreement…

World Fuel Services (WFS) said it will supply fuel oil and marine diesel from a new physical marine fuel supply location in Port Manatee in Tampa, Fla. WFS said it will have two dual capacity tug and barge units to service the area and has also partnered with Vane Brothers. “World Fuel Services continue to invest in selective physical supply locations. When selecting locations for WFS we carry out an intense risk assessment ensuring we are able to deliver the highest standards of service,” said Joe Gowen, SVP Global Marine Supply.

Port Manatee says it has signed an agreement to keep Del Monte fruit coming into the Florida Gulf Coast port for as many as 20 more years. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc., which has imported fruit into the deepwater Florida seaport since 1989, is now signed to a lease extension with Port Manatee through August 30, 2021, with options for three additional extensions of five years each. If all options are exercised, Del Monte will be doing business at Port Manatee until at least 2036.

A new study report projects cargo volume through Port Manatee will more than double over the next 10 years. The 2016 Port Manatee Master Plan Update, accepted June 16 by the Manatee County Port Authority, provides a strategic vision and framework for continued diverse growth of the port of Southwest Florida for the coming decade and beyond. “We are encouraged by the positive opportunities presented in the master plan update,” said Betsy Benac, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority.

Port Manatee’s growth as a cargo gateway continues, with the Florida Gulf port reporting a 36 percent year-over-year increase in containerized cargo handled in the first half of its fiscal year. During the six-month period from Oct. 1, 2015, through March 31, 2016, Port Manatee docks saw moves of 12,653 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEU), up from 9,321 TEUs in the comparable year-earlier fiscal half. Import TEUs led the way, increasing 40 percent, to 7,398 TEUs from 5,291 TEUs.

Port Manatee has added operations of Manatee Ship Repair and Fabrication LLC, enhancing its full-service port offerings at the entrance to Tampa Bay. “The services offered by Manatee Ship Repair and Fabrication are an ideal complement to the extensive operations at our full-service port,” said Carlos Buqueras, Port Manatee’s executive director. Manatee Ship Repair and Fabrication’s leadership offers more than 80 years of combined experience in vessel repair and fabrication, including in at-berth topside ship repairs of all kinds, ballast water treatment systems, structural fabrication, and pipe fabrication and repairs. Port Manatee’s strategically convenient location…

Port Manatee is adding a 2-acre cargo pad to support storage of prilled sulphur, a new commodity for the Florida Gulf Coast port. Under an agreement signed Tuesday, June 16, with longtime port tenant Gulf Coast Bulk Equipment Inc., construction of the pad is slated to begin in September on the east side of Port Manatee. A Palmetto, Fla.-based stevedoring and marine terminal operations firm, Gulf Coast Bulk Equipment has been a Port Manatee tenant since 2008, handling fertilizers, salt, potash and other bulk cargos.

Port Manatee and its stakeholders look to benefit from full federal funding of a feasibility study related to deepening of its channel and harbor area, the port said. Manatee Harbor, near the Gulf of Mexico entrance to Tampa Bay, is one of only 10 waterways in the continental United States identified for such U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funding in the fiscal 2016 civil works budget announced by President Obama Monday, February 2. “Port Manatee is deeply appreciative of this funding…

With the September call of the bulk carrier Sen Treasure, Port Manatee Scrap Metal Inc. is embarking upon exportation of scrap metal to Mexico from Port Manatee. The Sen Treasure departed Port Manatee bound for Veracruz on the evening of Sept. 10, after being loaded with more than 13,325 metric tons of material trucked from the Port Manatee Scrap Metal facility located less than 2 miles from the dock. The facility features a state-of-the-industry shredder system. “Port Manatee…

Port Manatee has been awarded a $1,837,500 security grant, allowing the port to proceed with three significant projects. The award, the second-highest for any Florida port in the latest round of grants offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, facilitates full funding for each of the three projects named in the request of the port, which is putting forth a required 25 percent match. Purchase of new geographic information system, or GIS, software to actively manage traffic patterns, as well as better identify and plan critical infrastructure. “We are thankful to receive full funding to enhance security at Port Manatee as it is crucial in continuing the growth of the port,” said David St. Pierre, Port Manatee’s director of seaport security.

Port Manatee reported a dynamic increase in trade activity, and said exports are poised to get a further boost when Air Products begins exporting liquefied natural gas heat exchangers from the port next year. Figures recently released by WorldCity Trade Numbers show the value of Port Manatee’s trade with the world totaled $257.57 million through the first four months of 2014 – up 17.15 percent over the comparable period in 2013. Exports increased by 25.68 percent, while imports rose 14.34 percent.

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.

Dave Sanford, interim chief of staff at Port Manatee, has been named to the National Academies of Science Marine Board, a Washington-based maritime advisory group. Sanford has accepted an appointment to a three-year term on the Marine Board, beginning Nov. 1. He brings to the board more than 40 years of maritime industry experience, including as director of navigation policy and legislation at the American Association of Port Authorities and in several senior executive capacities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including as chief of civil works policy and chief of the Interagency and International Services Division. Formed in 1965, the Marine Board is an internationally recognized source of expertise on maritime transportation and marine engineering and technology.

Naviera Master Line selects Port Manatee for new container & breakbulk service to Caribbean, Central & South American destinations. Expected to commence with a sailing from Port Manatee Mar. 8, 2013, Naviera Master Line, a division of Miami-based Master Line Shipping Company, will transport a variety of breakbulk and containerized cargo from Port Manatee to destinations in Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Trinidad. “For the targeted business we have with Central Florida auctions, like Alex Lyon & Son, CAT, Ritchie Bros.

Tampa Bay, Florida, port receives cargo of Brazilian corn to offset draught-stricken US production shortfalls. The 620-foot-long M/V King Fraser docks at Port Manatee to discharge more than 52,000 tons of Brazilian-produced corn to be used for animal feed. In its Nov. 9 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the drought is impacting approximately 75 percent of U.S. corn production and will continue into 2013. Cliff Arfman, vice president southeast at Interstate Commodities, Inc.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), a trade group representing port authorities throughout the Western Hemisphere, has selected 22 seaports to be recognized for exemplary projects, programs and initiatives at its annual awards event later this summer. The awards, for achievements in facilities engineering, environmental improvement, information technology and communications, will be presented to winning ports at a Sept. 14 luncheon in conjunction with AAPA's 100th Annual Convention in Seattle (https://www.aapa2011.org/main.aspx), which runs Sept. 11-15. * the Port of Long Beach, winner of the 2011 Dan Maynard Communications Award for Overall Excellence, which is bestowed on the port earning the most award points in AAPA's Communications Awards Program competition.

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…

The Manatee County Port Authority approved a long-term $30m agreement with Port Dolphin Energy LLC, providing Fla. with a second major source of natural gas. Port Dolphin officials estimate its project will generate more than $150m in direct economic impact within Manatee County during the next 20 years. Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2012 with completion in 2013. During the first five years of the agreement, Port Manatee will receive more than $16m in cash and assets, followed by about $15m per year over the remainder of the agreement.

To help spur growth and capitalize on the Panama Canal’s expansion, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and Port Manatee embarked on their first-ever strategic alliance. In an official ceremony held in Panama City, Panama, ACP Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta and Port Manatee Executive Director David L. McDonald signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to boost joint marketing, and encourage the exchange of information and business insight. As part of the partnership, the ACP and Port Manatee may undertake a series of activities to promote both the Port and Canal including joint advertisements and competitive market analyses. The agreement demonstrates each organization’s commitment to encouraging increased trade and meeting the needs of today’s maritime and shipping industries.

Coast Guard members from Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Coast Guard Cutter Joshua Appleby, homeported in St. Petersburg, along with personnel from Port Manatee, conducted a pollution-response exercise at the Port of Manatee in Palmetto on Nov. 13. The exercise was aimed at testing and improving the Coast Guard's ability to assemble, deploy and operate a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS). A VOSS is used to isolate and collect the spilled substance during or after a spill.