News & Updates
Seaport Spotlight: #SeasTheOpportunities at Port Canaveral
Port Canaveral is a world-class, highly efficient deep-water seaport connecting commerce and consumers throughout Florida and the southeastern United States. Located directly on the main Atlantic shipping lanes on the East Coast of Florida, Port Canaveral serves as a unique quadra-modal transportation hub linking sea, land, air and space with the benefits of easy and efficient highway access, unrestricted air draft, 43-foot deep-water sea access, and multipurpose berthing.
Port Canaveral is a vital link for international commerce for Florida and plays a continuing role in supporting U.S. military operations, government, military and commercial space exploration. Port Canaveral holds a significant responsibility in building and sustaining a strong economy on Florida’s Space Coast and the Central Florida region, which is the tenth largest consumer market in the U.S. with economic growth well above the national average.
Approximately 75 percent of Port Canaveral’s total revenue is derived from its cruise business. It’s the second busiest cruise port in the world, welcoming nearly seven million multi-day cruise passengers in FY 2023. Port Canaveral is homeport for several of the cruise industry’s newest, largest and most sophisticated ships operated by the largest cruise brands in the world, and it was the first cruise port in North and South America to support LNG-powered cruise vessels.
Port Canaveral also has grown its diversified cargo portfolio, while supporting an increased cadence of launch and recovery operations of the growing commercial space industry launching rockets from nearby NASA, Space Florida and U.S. Space Force launch pads.
Port Canaveral continues to invest in infrastructure to expand its operational capabilities and increase capacity to meet the needs of today’s larger, more sophisticated vessels, add value to the port’s business portfolio, and maintain its competitive position for handling current and future business demands. Port Canaveral’s five-year capital improvement program is focused on harbor and landside infrastructure improvements, such as renovating cruise and cargo terminal facilities, and building and refurbishing multi-purpose deep-water berths to keep pace with demands and promote economic prosperity for the region.