By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTWith activity continuing to increase at Florida seaports along the Gulf of Mexico, port officials are busy bolstering infrastructure. Taking an individual look at Florida Gulf ports, beginning near the Alabama border in the western Panhandle and moving east, then South to Tampa Bay: Port of PensacolaSituated in Florida’s far northwest corner, the Port of Pensacola finally showed nearly full recovery in 2006 from extensive damage caused by 2004’s Hurricane Ivan. Leading the way as port director since August has been Clyde Mathis, former Port of New Orleans executive assistant for marketing and business development. Mathis recently announced that his senior management team will consist of a pair of existing Pensacola staffers. Amy Miller will manage the port’s marketing, finance and administration functions and Glenda White will head up port operations, security and maintenance. The Port of Pensacola had a record-breaking year in 2006, setting five-year highs in ship calls, tonnage handled and revenue. Ship activity was nearly four times that in 2005, with the port handling 97 deep-draft ships carrying total tonnage of nearly 850,000 tons. The port posted earnings of $2.9 million against expenses of $2 million. Contributing to this success were the operations of two long-term lease tenants, dry bulk cement importer Cemex and freezer terminal operator Pate Stevedores & Cold Storage, both of which enjoyed their first full year of operations since Ivan. Mathis said he is focusing on bringing in additional long-term lessees. Port of Panama CityThe Port of Panama City is investing $15 million this year in new infrastructure. The largest project involves an 80,000-square-foot bulk warehouse with supporting rail receiving facilities and transfer conveyors. Green Circle BioEnergy, Inc. has committed to ship a minimum of 300,000 tons per year of wood pellets through the new facilities. Other improvements include an expanded container yard and new interchange gate. A new 200-acre intermodal distribution center also is under construction. This facility, some 15 miles North of the port on US 231, will provide space for distribution warehousing as well as sites for port-related industries. This year, the Port of Panama City expects to handle 1.2 million tons of general cargo and a half-million tons of bulk cargoes. After the current improvements are completed the port looks to be able to add as many as one million tons of new business. Port of TampaFlorida’s largest port, handling some 50 million cargo tons a year, the Port of Tampa, continues to expand beyond its traditional bulk cargo roots with a growing container presence. Business is picking up at the new Hooker’s Point Container Terminal, as, in late January, Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. contributed a 10th vessel to its Asia-Gulf Express Service while adding calls at the Japanese ports of Osaka and Yokohama. These upgrades are in response to the demands of Tampa’s local market, with more than seven million people within 100 miles of the port. The Tampa Port Authority and terminal operator P&O Ports Florida Inc. have reserved land adjacent to the new container terminal that could facilitate it eventually quadrupling in size to more than 100 acres. To help accommodate increasing forest product and steel volumes, the Tampa Port Authority takes delivery this month of its newest 100,000-square-foot warehouse and transit shed at Berth 206, bringing the total warehouse space at the port to one million square feet. Gaetano Cacciatore Inc., a subsidiary of Denmark-based Aalborg Portland A/S, began operations in December at the port’s newly constructed Port Sutton Berth 26, with the arrival of 20,000 tons of white cement from Denmark on a Norwegian ship, the M/V Star Alabama. Port Sutton facilities are designed to handle two million tons of cement and aggregate materials annually. Port ManateeNear the entrance to Tampa Bay, Port Manatee,