By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTAdvancement of a 50-foot-deep channel and a major tunnel endeavor at the Port of Miami, container yard enhancements at Port Everglades and the Port of Fernandina, and cargo berth projects at Port Canaveral and the Port of Palm Beach are among infrastructure plans moving forward at ports on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. Also, new top executives have assumed the reins this year at the Jacksonville Port Authority and the Miami River Marine Group. Looking individually at Florida’s East Coast ports, beginning in Miami and moving northward toward the Georgia line: Port of the Miami River After scoring major victories on dredging, security and riverfront development fronts, the Miami River Marine Group has named a new executive director. Longtime maritime industry journalist Rick Eyerdam, whose prior positions included editor of Florida Shipper magazine, took over the job in January from Dr. Fran Bohnsack, who, after serving 16 years as the trade group’s head, was named Southeast regional representative for the U.S. Maritime Administration. Recent developments along the Miami River include dredging of the river to 15-foot depth, organization of the river shipping community to comply with federal security regulations and success in a legal battle against real estate interests that had sought rezoning of riverfront commercial properties for residential construction. The Port of the Miami River, Florida’s fifth-largest port based on annual cargo volume, with 32 privately owned terminals, focuses on serving shallow-draft Caribbean and Latin American ports. Port of Miami As one of three U.S. East Coast ports approved by Congress to bring its cargo channel to a controlled depth of 50 feet, the Port of Miami-Dade County is advancing its Deep Dredge Phase III program, with completion scheduled for 2014. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is completing preliminary design and engineering work while county officials work to secure $75 million in federal funding for the project. Also slated for 2014 completion is a $1 billion project to provide a tunnel linking the 518-acre island port directly to the mainland limited-access highway network without trucks and cruise passengers having to pass through congested downtown Miami streets. Construction of the tunnel has begun under the oversight of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), in partnership with Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami. In addition to the enhanced highway connection, an improved rail link also is in the cards for the Port of Miami, which recently received a $22 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant under the second-phase Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER II) program to restore service between the port and the Florida East Coast Railway yard in Hialeah. Port Everglades At Broward County’s Port Everglades, a 10-year cargo terminal lease has been inked with SeaFreight Agencies Inc., operator of twice-a-week Caribbean containership services, for a 25-acre portion of the new 41-acre Southport container yard that is nearing completion. Also at Southport, Crowley Maritime Corp. has signed a 10-year agreement to increase its terminal acreage to 80 acres from 68.2 acres, with increased ship movements and container guarantees. In addition, Chilean carrier Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) has added two new services out of Port Everglades. Buoyed by $5.1 million in FDOT grants, a $11.5 million bridge, dubbed Manatee Crossing, has been completed, facilitating seamless truck movements between Port Everglades’ Midport and Southport areas without the need to go through more than one security checkpoint. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has approved Port Everglades’ proposal to create an enlarged mangrove wetland habitat, allowing release of nearly 9 acres for extending the Southport turning notch by about 1,500 feet. The additional berth space will help the port accommodate larger