With infrastructure enhancements 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 boosting cargo-handling capabilities at several Florida Gulf Coast ports, while varied undertakings 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 presence with small ship calls by American Cruise Lines.
SeaPort Manatee
At the Manatee County Port Authority’s SeaPort Manatee, 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 roadway 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 Manatee continues to report record activity as a Southwest/Central Florida hub for moves of a broad range of key commodities – from produce and juices to fuels and phosphate rock – wood pulp volumes in particular are on the upswing. Brazil-based Bracell recently inked a 60,000-ton-a-year agreement, importing wood pulp as breakbulk 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-Panamax gantries, Port Tampa Bay has increased to six the fleet of such ship-to-shore cranes at its expanding Ports America 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 terminal, 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 funding to support the $1.3 billion Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Project. Construction is slated to begin as early as 2027 on the largest infrastructure initiative in the port’s history, to deepen the shipping channel to 47 feet from 43 feet along a 42-mile stretch.
And April saw Port Tampa Bay welcome ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.’s ZIM Canada carrying 11,900 twenty-foot-equivalent container units of cargo, nearly 2,000 more TEUs than any vessel previously calling the port, which is promoted as Florida’s largest and most diversified seaport.
Port of Port St. Joe
Along Florida’s Panhandle, the Port of Port St. Joe is looking to expansion of Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. operations – as well as establishment of an on-port maritime training academy with 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement monies – to reinvigorate a port that has struggled since the 1999 closing of St. Joe Co.’s paper mill.
Efforts are focused upon development of a floating drydock via a public-private partnership between Gulf County and Panama City-headquartered Eastern Shipbuilding, which has been utilizing the port’s bulkhead in outfitting new ships and making waterside repairs. The floating installation should facilitate an expanded scope of work, to encompass whole-ship and out-of-water repairs. A recently announced $6 million Florida Department of Commerce grant is providing a funding boost for the project, which is not anticipated to require any county tax dollars.
Meanwhile, the Florida House of Representatives has unanimously passed HB 4105, to expand the Port St. Joe Port Authority board to six members – two representing Gulf County; one each from adjacent Franklin, Liberty and Gadsden counties; and a chairman from the City of Port St. Joe.
Port Panama City
Near the Panhandle’s center, Port Panama City is moving forward with Phase 2 expansion at its East Terminal under leadership of Bob Majka, former Bay County county manager, who in March succeeded Alex King as the Northwest Florida port’s executive director. After 15 years at Port Panama City, King headed 185 miles west to Mobile to become chief operating officer of the Alabama Port Authority.
Key elements of the project include a second East Terminal warehouse, with rail and road additions to serve it, plus a 600-linear-foot berth extension to facilitate simultaneous accommodation of two vessels. Related navigational channel improvements are also proceeding. Completion is targeted for late 2028.
The East Terminal, formerly known as Bay Harbor Docks, augments the sixth-berth West Terminal, with each facility offering alongside depth of 36 feet. In 2016, the Panama City Port Authority bought from WestRock the 43-acre eastern property, which had been home to a paper mill and private terminal, and has been using federal, state and port revenue funds to advance its phased redevelopment. The $66 million first phase opened in 2020.
Port of Pensacola
Located at the northwest edge of the Florida Panhandle, the Port of Pensacola continues to evolve as a diversified maritime hub, balancing cargo operations with high-profile waterfront development. Lance Scott, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, took over as port director in April 2025, succeeding Clark Merritt, who entered private industry as president of Specialty Ceilings LLC after helming the port for more than a dozen years.
Core cargo activity remains strong at the Port of Pensacola, led by bulk Cemex cement imports and such project cargo as wind turbine components for GE Vernova, which anchors the port’s position in regional construction and energy supply chains. Further indicative of diversity of activities, in January, the port, an enterprise operation of the City of Pensacola, completed a 56,000-square-foot performance center as a training base for elite sailing programs.
Infrastructure investments underway at the Port of Pensacola include a comprehensive road, rail, water line and stormwater management project to enhance terminal efficiency. Future-facing projects, such as Berth 6 rehabilitation and an intermodal logistics center, bode to further expand cargo capacity and throughput.
