News & Updates
Port Canaveral uses cutting edge cleaning technology
Port Canaveral, which already has taken steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mitigate and prevent the spread of viruses and illness, has implemented high-grade commercial sanitizing of its cruise terminals using a disinfecting product with an antimicrobial agent highly effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. “Safety is the Port’s top priority and this cutting-edge disinfecting process provides another level of protection for our staff and the millions of people who pass through our terminals each year,” Port CEO Capt. John Murray stated.
Manufactured by South Carolina based mPact Environmental Solutions, the product called mPale has been shown in lab tests to be 99.99 percent effective against the new coronavirus. Once it is applied and bonds to a surface, the colorless, odorless agent retains its effectiveness for a minimum of 30 days. It can be applied to wood, steel, sheet-rock, carpets, upholstery, and painted surfaces as well as plastic, leather, and fiber.
To immediately obtain sufficient quantity of the product to treat the entire Port, staffers Gregory Carlton and Deitrich Docktail went the ‘extra mile’ and drove to South Carolina and back, leaving morning of March 12 and returning at 4:30 a.m. the next day, according to A.J. Jendroch, Director of Facilities. Some 24 Port employees immediately got to work applying the product at Cruise Terminal 1 from 3:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Another 10 employees finished disinfecting Cruise Terminal 5 the next day. The product was applied to disinfect all surfaces at the Port’s cruise terminals. High-touch areas will be treated every 30 days.
The Port already was emphasizing safe hygiene practices. Crews stepped up the scale and frequency of environmental cleaning and disinfecting of all common and public areas in Port buildings and cruise terminals, focusing on high-touch areas such as stair railings, door handles, counter tops and elevator buttons with an Environmental Protection Agency registered, hospital-grade disinfectant product. Used at the Port of Tampa and Tampa International Airport, mPale has unique microscopic spikes that puncture cell walls of bacteria and mold. It is effective against virtually all viral, bacterial and fungal infestations, including coronavirus. It can be used in tandem with mPact’s cleaner, sanitizer, and deodorizer, mPerial.