By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT

Burgeoning containerized cargo volumes have been keeping ports along the Atlantic coast of Florida busy adding to infrastructure. New services and high-level personnel appointments are among a plethora of other developments unfolding at these ports.

From South to North, here's the latest at ports along the Sunshine State's East Coast:

Port of Miami-Dade

At the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami-Dade, container throughput is projected to exceed 1 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2006, the third consecutive year the Miami-Dade County seaport should be reaching that mark.

Charles A. Towsley, now in his ninth year as port director, has been among the most vocal of complainers about the fiscal stresses related to compliance with state and federal security mandates. In 2005, those pressures were compounded by losses estimated at more than $6 million associated with three hurricanes.

Meanwhile, container yard and wharf improvements have been made, while two new electrified, super-post-Panamax container cranes, which brought the port's gantry contingent to an even dozen, are entering their second year of service. The long-awaited port tunnel project, which would allow trucks and other port traffic direct access to the island seaport by avoiding congested downtown Miami streets, appears to be moving ahead at last, with a projected completion date by the end of 2014.

The latest service addition at the Port of Miami is a weekly CMA-CGM Cagema route that in July extended the port's offerings to the Leeward-Windward Islands.

Miami River

With 24 terminals operated by private concerns combining to handle more than one million tons of containerized cargo in addition to breakbulk in 2005, the Miami River continues to grow as a hub for commerce with shallow draft Caribbean ports. Officials are looking forward to a marine industrial zone West of 27th Avenue to facilitate further industry growth.

A $40 million expansion and modernization plan for Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock Co. facilities on the river will afford cargo vessels and tugs ready access to a state-of-the-industry repair facility.

While Antillean Marine remains the leading shipping line based on the Miami River, growth is being experienced by other carriers as well. Betty K Agencies has moved into a new river terminal and, with the addition of a new vessel, the Betty K VII, is this month increasing its service frequency to the Bahamian port of Nassau to daily from twice weekly. Also, a new liner operation, Miami Trading and Broker, has located in a recently refurbished facility on the river and is offering weekly service to the Haitian ports of Cap-Haitien, Miragoane and Port-de-Paix. The company's manager, Albert Rodriguez, is establishing a school for seamen in Panama.

Port Dania

Privately held Port Dania, operated by G & G Shipping, is expanding to a fourth location this month with the opening of a 148,000-square-foot, less-than-containerload warehouse near the Eller Drive entrance to Broward County's Port Everglades.

The small port, with a controlled depth of 13 feet, offers ocean services to the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean islands.

Port Everglades

With record levels of container activity, Port Everglades made news again last week with the confirmation of Phil Allen as port director. Allen, Broward County's longtime chief financial officer, had been assigned to the county's port since last June, after the dismissal of Ken Krauter from the port's top spot amid a political shakeup. A nationwide search ensued, but in the end, Allen, who also had guided the port on an interim basis in 2000 and 2001, was chosen from a field of five finalists.

During the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2005, Port Everglades broke the 5-million-ton mark in containerized cargo for the first time, recording a 22.5% increase in such activity. Port officials a