Florida Seaport System Plan - SeaCIP

Florida Seaport System Plan
System Overview and Performance
Florida’s 14 deepwater seaports represent a critical component of Florida’s
multimodal transportation system, functioning as domestic and international
trade gateways, regional economic engines, and major transportation hubs.
Florida’s seaports handle a variety of traffic, including containerized and
noncontainerized cargo as well cruise passengers.
• Eleven of Florida’s 14 ports handle some combination of domestic,
import, and export cargo, totaling over 104 million tons in fiscal year
2008/2009. The Port of Tampa is the largest cargo seaport handling 36
percent of the state’s total tonnage (see Figure ES.1).
• Ten Florida seaports handle container traffic, totaling over 2.7 million
twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in fiscal year 2008/2009. The Port
of Miami is the largest container port handling around 30 percent of all
containers moving through Florida ports. Port Everglades and Port of
Jacksonville follow; these three container ports make up nearly 87
percent of all container movement (see Figure ES.2).
• Seven of Florida’s seaports offer passenger service for single- and multiday
cruises, totaling over 12.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2008/2009.
Port of Miami is the largest home-based cruise port handling nearly a third
of all cruise passenger in Florida. Port Canaveral and Port Everglades
follow at a close second and third, respectively, with the three together
representing nearly 83 percent of all cruise passengers (see Figure ES.3).
Competitive Position of Florida’s Seaports
In general, Florida’s seaports are highly competitive with other seaports throughout
the United States. At the state level, Florida is in the top five states for total
waterborne tonnage and containers handled. This is due to its large consuming
population and the presence of a well established and competitive system of
seaports. As a State, Florida competes with other coastal trading states in the South
Atlantic and Gulf, from Virginia to Texas. However, many vessels call at multiple
ports within these ranges – Houston and Tampa, or Hampton Roads and Miami, for
example. Florida’s ports compete most directly with ports between South Carolina
and Alabama, a range within which most vessels will make only a single call.
• Florida’s Atlantic coast ports are dominant with respect to cruise
markets; competitive with respect to overall tonnage; and competitive
but lagging with respect to containers. The Port of Savannah alone
handles nearly as many containers as Florida’s ports combined.
• Florida’s Gulf coast ports are dominant with respect to cruise markets,
but handle around one-half the tonnage and one-third the TEUs of their
competitors. The tonnage numbers are skewed by the fact that
competitors include several huge coal and petroleum centers; and the
TEU numbers should not be a concern because the absolute numbers
are fairly small and this is a rapidly growing market for all Gulf ports.
Florida Department of Transportation
December 2010
ES-5