MAY 2026 
GULF COAST PORTS
GULF COAST PORTS 
17
Southwest 
Florida’s 
Gateway to
Global Trade
Located at the entrance to Tampa Bay, SeaPort Manatee is one 
of Florida’s fastest-growing deepwater seaports, providing time-saving 
connections to key transportation routes I-75, I-275, and the CSX mainline.  
As the closest U.S. container seaport with multiple weekly liner services to 
Mexico and Central America, SeaPort Manatee provides shippers and businesses 
with strategic transportation solutions and streamlined logistics.
From breakbulk to bulk, to project cargo, containers, and 1 million square feet of 
cold and dry storage facilities – let us show you why SeaPort Manatee is your global 
supply chain solution.
MANATEE COUNTY PORT AUTHORITY
300 Tampa Bay Way • Palmetto, FL 34221
(941) 722 6621
www.SeaPortManatee.com
Orlando
Wood pulp import shipments are on the rise at SeaPort Manatee, where berth and container yard 
expansion projects are advancing.
Seaports along Gulf Coast 
of Florida bustling with vast 
array of operations
By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT
(VAST – continued on 
page 19)
With infrastructure enhance-
ments moving forward at each 
of the five seaports along 
Florida’s Gulf Coast, the west 
side of the Sunshine State is 
teeming with highly diverse 
maritime activity.
Major endeavors are boost-
ing cargo-handling capabilities 
at several Florida Gulf Coast 
ports, while varied under-
takings include expansion of 
shipbuilding operations and 
even a training center for elite 
sailing teams. Port Tampa 
Bay also is a significant 
player in the cruise industry, 
which in March established 
a Port of Pensacola pres-
ence with small ship calls by 
American Cruise Lines.
Starting where the Gulf of 
America meets Tampa Bay and 
heading northward, then west 
along the Panhandle, here is a 
roundup of the latest at the Sun-
shine State’s Gulf seaports:
SeaPort Manatee
At the Manatee County 
Port Authority’s SeaPort Man-
atee, propitiously perched 
near the Gulf entrance to 
Tampa Bay, container yard 
expansion is moving forward, 
with the existing 16-acre yard 
to grow to 42 acres by the end 
of 2027. The endeavor also 
aims to increase the number 
of refrigerated plugs to 1,216 
from 744 and enhance road-
way access while adding two 
stationary radiation portal 
monitors. Future plans call 
for additional yard acreage.
The 600-foot extension 
of the present 1,200-foot-long 
Berth 4 also is advancing, 
with requisite dredging slated 
to be done by mid-2027. 
While 
SeaPort 
Mana-
tee continues to report record 
activity as a Southwest/Cen-
tral Florida hub for moves of a 
broad range of key commodi-
ties – from produce and juices 
to fuels and phosphate rock 
– wood pulp volumes in par-
ticular are on the upswing. Bra-
zil-based Bracell recently inked 
a 60,000-ton-a-year agreement, 
importing wood pulp as break-
bulk before the product is 
containerized at the port and 
shipped to Mexico via SeaPort 
Manatee-headquartered World 
Direct Shipping. G2 Ocean, 
Pan Ocean and Saga Welco 
all bring wood pulp to SeaPort 
Manatee on a regular basis.
Port Tampa Bay 
With the late April arrival 
of two additional post-Pana-
max gantries, Port Tampa Bay 
has increased to six the fleet 
of such ship-to-shore cranes 
at its expanding Ports Amer-
ica container terminal. The 
new units are being deployed 
at the terminal’s soon-to-be-
completed third deepwater 
container berth. The latest 
Liebherr cranes are crucial 
to Port Tampa Bay’s broader 
container terminal expansion, 
to add 25 more acres of yard 
space to the 100-acre termi-
nal, as well as paved storage 
and an on-dock, rail-served 
transloading facility.
Also in April, U.S. Rep. 
Kathy Castor, D-Fla., announced 
$10 million in federal fund-
ing to support the $1.3 billion 
Tampa Harbor Navigation 
Improvement Project. Con-
struction is slated to begin as 
early as 2027 on the largest 
infrastructure initiative in the 

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