b"24American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comFLORIDA PORTS 2024 Floridas Gulf Coast ports add leases and expand terminalsBy AJOT Staffp Ortp anamaC ity PortPanamaCityscargohandling Perhaps the biggest news for Portcapacity. Alex King, Executive Direc-Panama City in 2023 was the Novem- tor,PortPanamaCityatthetime ber announcement the Port had beennoted,Ialsowouldliketothank awarded a $11.25 million Port Infra- ourFederal,State,andLocallead-structure Development Program grantersfortheirtremendoussupportas from the U.S. Department of Trans- we develop the East Terminal into a portationsMaritimeAdministra- world class port facility.tion (MARAD) for the expansion ofTheEastTerminalprojectthat theEastTerminal.ThisprojectwillKing referred to in his remarks is a includeanew200,000-square-footkeytoongoingeffortsofthePorts The ONE Stork docked at the Port of Jacksonville (SF)on-dockwarehousetoincrease(GULFcontinued on page 30)Projects at Floridas Atlantic ports testament to future cargo growthBy AJOT Stafft hep Ort OFj aCkSOnville handled nearly 900,000 tons of break-To say things are humming alongbulk, almost 2 million tons of bulk, at the Port of Jacksonville would beandover500,000unitsofautosin an understatement. The Port of Jack- FY 2023. Developing the port facili-sonville,locatedinthenortheastties to efficiently utilize available land corner of the State, is Floridas largesthas been an ongoing process. And as container port, and has been engagedwasoutlinedinJAXPORTsfive-in a methodical improvement of theyear Strategic Master Plan, expanding ports facilities to position itself for ancapacity for breakbulk and bulk prod-anticipated increase in freight in theucts is one of the key strategies.next decade. In late January 2024, JAXPORT AlthoughJacksonville1.3mil- inkedalong-term,30-yeardeal lion TEUs in FY2023 is the headliner,withU.S.marineterminalcompanyExpansion of the Port of Panama Citys East Terminal will include a new 200,000-square-foot the cargo mix is impressive. The Port(PROJECTScontinued on page 26) on-dock warehouse.SEAPORT MANATEE OrlandoSOUTHWEST FLORIDASSeaPort ManateeGATEWAY TO GLOBAL TRADECentral and SouthwestFlorida's premier deepwater seaport at the entrance to Tampa BayAs one of Florida's fastest-growing deepwaterseaports, SeaPort Manatee offers efficientconnections to Interstate 75 and I-275, theCSX mainline, and multiple weekly linerservices to Mexico and Central America.From container, dry and liquid bulk,breakbulk cargo and more - let us show youwhy SeaPort Manatee is the right turn onTampa Bay.www.SeaPortManatee.com"