Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) Chief Executive Officer Eric Green outlined the port’s growth opportunities and plans for the future during a State of the Port Address.
Green announced that JAXPORT’s single biggest growth initiative, deepening the Jacksonville shipping channel to 47 feet (14.3 metres), is on track to be completed through JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal as early as May 2022.
In coordination with deepening, more than $100 million in berth enhancements will be complete this summer to enable the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at Blount Island to simultaneously accommodate two post-Panamax ships.
By the end of 2022, Blount Island terminal operator SSA Atlantic will welcome three new eco-friendly container cranes and complete the first 20 acres of a modernisation project to enable the facility to accommodate more containers.
At the Dames Point Marine Terminal, Ceres Terminals has committed $15 million in private investment in cargo handling equipment and systems. Investments continue at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal, where the port is working on expanding its footprint and capabilities.
“The solution to the nation’s port congestion problem — is right here in this room,” Green told attendees. “As the industry looks to combat everything from truck capacity issues to labor and equipment challenges, protecting the supply chain is a global priority. That’s where Jacksonville’s modern deepwater seaport comes in.”
Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited JAXPORT to announce that Singapore-based ocean carrier Sea Lead has selected Jacksonville as a port of call on its first-ever US East Coast service.
Jacksonville is the last port of call on the rotation connecting Jacksonville to three ports in China and one in South Korea. This new service is an expansion of Sea Lead’s U.S. West Coast operations and showcases the advantages JAXPORT’s uncongested berths and efficiency offers worldwide ocean carriers.
