As one of South Florida’s leading economic powerhouses, Broward County’s Port Everglades is the gateway for international trade and cruise vacations. Consistently ranked among the top three busiest cruise ports in the world, Port Everglades is also one of the nation’s leading container ports and South Florida’s main seaport for receiving petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuel and alternative fuels. The Port Everglades Department is a self-supporting Enterprise Fund of Broward County, Florida government with operating revenues of approximately $162.6 million in Fiscal Year 2016 (October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016). It does not rely on local tax dollars for operations. The total value of economic activity at Port Everglades is almost $30 billion. More than 226,500 Florida jobs are impacted by the Port, including approximately 13,000 people who work for companies that provide direct services to Port Everglades. For more information on Port Everglades, go to porteverglades.net or e-mail PortEverglades@broward.org.

Goals & Objectives

Expand the port’s role as a cargo hub, capitalizing on its advantageous geographical position at the crossroads of north-south and east-west trade lanes. Expansion efforts include deepening and widening the port’s navigation channels, adding new cargo berths and Super Post-Panamax cranes, and strengthening landside intermodal connections to ensure capacity for handling growing volumes of Latin American and Caribbean cargos as well as cargo from Europe and Asia.

  • Capitalize on federal and state funding opportunities to deepen and widen the port’s navigation channels and turning basin, and to purchase up to six new super post-Panamax gantry cranes, which are all critically needed to handle larger cargo ships that are coming to Port Everglades from Europe and South America.
  • Continue capital upgrades that ensure world-class facilities at eight multi-day cruise terminals serving more than 40 ships cruising to the eastern and western Caribbean, Panama Canal, South America, Central America and Transatlantic.
  • Augment the volume of perishable produce coming from Latin America by expanding cold treatment services and gaining approval for a wider variety of produce from various markets by working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  • Invest in infrastructure renovations and construction to protect our prominence as a top petroleum port in Florida, annually handling some 115 million barrels of petroleum products via water, as well as alternative fuels
  • Ensure the long-term interests of both the maritime community and the fragile environment within and around the Port by adhering to stringent governmental regulations, employing best management practices, careful study, and advancing progressive remedial and protective measures.

Current or Planned Investments

 

  • Slip 2 Extension: Adjacent to the newly renovated Cruise Terminal 4, Slip 2 will be extended by 250 feet for a total of 1,150 feet of berth length to accommodate larger cruise ships. The Slip 2 extension is slated to begin be completed by June 2017. Estimated cost: $18 million. No local taxes will be used for the construction project.
  • Southport Turning Notch Extension and Upland Mangrove Enhancement: The Port Everglades Southport Turning Notch Extension (STNE) project will lengthen the existing STNE from approximately 900 feet to 2,400 feet. This project will provide for up to five additional berths and up to six new Super Post-Panamax gantry cranes for the STNE and existing cargo berths in Southport. A critical part of the extension includes replacing an existing mangrove conservation easement with an upland enhancement that Port officials worked closely with port users, the environmental community, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to develop. The Port Everglades Wetland Enhancement Project has received a “Notification of Trending Towards Success” from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for successfully cultivating 16.5 acres of nursery-grown mangrove and native plants on property that was originally dry land intended for other uses. The notification releases 8.7 acres of an existing mangrove conservation easement adjacent to docks that will be excavated to extend the Southport Turning Notch. This project is estimated to create 3,045 construction jobs and support 5,529 direct and indirect local/regional jobs. It is currently estimated that the project will be completed and in operation by 2019.
  • Harbor Deepening and Widening: Port Everglades is continuing to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen and widen the Port’s navigational channels from 42 feet to 48 feet (with a 2-foot overdredge allowance). The Project calls for deepening and widening the Outer Entrance Channel from an existing 45-foot project depth over a 500-foot channel width to a 55-foot depth with an 800-foot channel width, deepening the Inner Entrance Channel and Main Turning Basin from 42 feet to 48 feet, and widening the channels within the Port to increase the margin of safety for ships transiting to berth. The project is currently in the preconstruction engineering and design phase after receiving a signed Chief of Engineers Report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 26, 2015. The total estimated cost (as of July 2015) is $374 million, including a $184 million investment by the Port. No local taxes are to be used. Widening and deepening the channel is projected to create 4,789 construction jobs in the near term and 1,491 regional jobs by the year 2027.
  • Port Everglades International Logistics Center: Port Everglades is relocating its current on-port Foreign-Trade Zone facility to a new, state-of-the-art regional logistics distribution center that will be built on a prime 16.7-acre site adjacent to the port’s containerized cargo terminals. The new location, directly west of the current site, is ideally situated within the port with direct access to the interstate highway system and the Florida East Coast Railway’s 43-acre intermodal container transfer facility.
  • Slip 1 Renovation: The Berth 9 and 10 structural bulkhead and marine infrastructure within Slip 1, used for petroleum tankers, will be relocated 175 feet south of its present location in order to widen the Slip from its existing 300 feet to a total of 475 feet. In conjunction with this project, The Port’s petroleum partners are developing improved offloading infrastructure. The project is currently in the design phase with construction slated to begin in September 2019.
  • New Super Post-Panamax Gantry Cranes: Port Everglades is in the process of purchasing three low-profile super post-Panamax gantry cranes with an option for an additional three cranes. The project also includes updates to the seven existing cranes to improve lift capacity from 46.5 tons to 65 tons, and for Florida Power and Light (FPL) to construct a sub-station to handle increased electric power requirements.
  • Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND): Port Everglades has given FIND a two-year fee-free License Agreement to use a 6-acre Port site to drain and dry approximately 300,000 cubic yards of dredged materials from a project to dredge the Dania Cutoff Canal for larger boats and yachts. The 15-foot dredge will yield a positive economic output with increased jobs, labor income and increased tax revenue.

Accomplishments

 

  • Port Everglades exceeded one-million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units, the industry’s standard container measurement), for the third consecutive year, reporting a total of almost 1.04 million TEUs in Fiscal Year 2016.
  • Port Everglades broke its own world record – actually twice in the same cruise season – with more than 55,885 cruise guests traveling to and from the port in a single day.The Port Everglades Wetland Enhancement Project received a “Notification of Trending Towards Success” from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for successfully cultivating 16.5 acres of nursery-grown mangrove and native plants on property that was originally dry land. The notification is a critical component to the Port’s berth expansion effort because it will lead to the release of 8.7 acres of an existing mangrove conservation area adjacent to the docks. The released acres will be excavated and the Southport Turning Notch will be expanded to make way for up to five new cargo ship berths. This project was the winner of the Working, Building & Engineering with Nature category of the Dredging & Port Construction Innovation Awards 2016
  • A long-term project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen and widen the navigation channels at Port Everglades has moved forward to the Preconstruction Engineering and Design Phase. Major national benefits of the project include transportation cost savings and increased economic efficiency. The Corps estimates over the lifecycle of the project about $2.90 is earned for each dollar spent in improvement, equating to an estimated average annual net benefit of more than $31 million.
  • The State of Florida Legislature has allocated more than $125.1 million in State grants to Port Everglades’ expansion efforts over the next five years.
  • The Port renewed long-term agreements with three major terminal operators at Port Everglades – Florida International Terminal, LLC (FIT), King Ocean Services Limited (Cayman Islands) Inc., and Crowley Liner Services.
  • Carnival Corporation the world’s largest leisure travel company, signed an amendment with Port Everglades to extend its current contract through 2030 with an additional five years of sailings to and from Port Everglades.
  • Port Everglades became the first and only seaport in the United States to adopt the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-approved Mobile Passport Control (MPC) Smartphone program for cruise ship travel. This first-of-its-kind app, developed by Airside Mobile and Airports Council International-North America in partnership with CBP, has been in use at a number of airports across the country, including Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), and has been highly anticipated for use at cruise ports. The app allows U.S. citizens with a valid passport and Canadian citizens with both a valid Canadian passport and B1 or B2 visa status, to complete their Customs declaration upon debark to use their smart phones or other mobile devices, expediting their clearance process in the terminal. The Port also pilot-tested Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks to process debarking cruise passengers.
  • As part of Port Everglades’ continuous investments in creating the ultimate cruise guest experience, Jonathan and Saori Russell installed larger-than-life kinetic birds sculptures on solar and wind-powered lampposts at Cruise Terminal 4. In addition, muralist William Savarese restyled the face of an office building with a 1,000-square-foot sea and sky mural, and artist David Dahlquist transformed a major security checkpoint into a welcoming Florida Everglades-styled entryway.
  • Horizon Terminal Services acquired Fast Terminal Corp’s Port Everglades facility as part of a larger strategic investment in the Caribbean and Central American markets by ro-ro shipping line Höegh Autoliners, owners of Horizon Terminal Services.
    Costa Cruises returned to Port Everglades to homeport the 2,260-passenger Costa Deliziosa after a four-year hiatus.
  • Port Everglades signed an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study air emissions. The EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality is working closely with Port Everglades to coordinate research and modeling encompassing all port-related operations, technologies and anticipated growth scenarios.
  • Cruise Terminal 4 received the Go Green Seal, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine selected Port Everglades for their 2016 Green Supply Chain Award which recognizes companies making green or sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategy and working to achieve measurable sustainability goals within the global supply chain.

Hinterland

Cargo:
Port Everglades is in the heart of one of the world’s largest consumer regions, with a constant flow of seasonal visitors and up to 110 million residents plus within a 500-mile radius. The Florida East Coast Railway’s 43-acre intermodal container transfer facility makes it possible for cargo shipped into Port Everglades to reach Atlanta and Charlotte in two days, Memphis and Nashville in three days, and 70 percent of the U.S. population in four days.Cruise:
The Caribbean, Central America, South America, Panama Canal and Europe.

Trade Partners

IMPORT:
1. Honduras
2. Dominican Republic
3. Italy
4. South Korea
5. Venezuela

EXPORT:
1. Venezuela
2. Dominican Republic
3. Chile
4. Brazil
5. Peru

Mission

As a premier gateway and powerhouse for international trade, travel and investment, Broward County’s Port Everglades leverages its world-class South Florida facilities and innovative leadership to drive the region’s economic vitality and provide unparalleled levels of service, safety, environmental stewardship and community engagement.