Port Canaveral is the East Coast gateway
and a strategic economic engine for Central Florida.

The port is home to three seasonal and six year-round cruise ships from Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line, and will welcome an estimated 104 visits by port-of-call vessels in Fiscal Year 2017. With more than 4.2 million revenue passengers last year, Port Canaveral is ranked as the second-busiest cruise port in the world and serves as a popular homeport and port of call for some of the largest ships afloat, including Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic. In November 2016, both of these majestic vessels joined the Canaveral home-ported fleet.

In 2016, the Canaveral Port Authority completed $137 million in capital projects, including $45 million in renovations to 24-year-old Cruise Terminal 5, increasing its capacity from 2,500 to 3,500 passengers. In addition, 21-yearold Cruise Terminal 10 was renovated with a capacity increase from 3,200 to 5,500 passengers. Cruise Terminal 8, the Disney Terminal, also received a $2-million upgrade. In addition, the port invested more than $44 million in widening and deepening the harbor and $15.2 million in cargo terminals and backup areas.

With 5.5 million tons of cargo in 2016, Port Canaveral serves as the gateway to Central Florida and is located three hours or less from every major Florida market. Last year Port Canaveral became the exclusive U.S. stop on Streamline’s Blue Stream, a weekly container service operating from Canaveral Cargo Terminal, the first U.S. venture by Gulftainer. In addition, Delaware-based Autoport, Inc. began handling vehicles from the port’s new auto terminal, and Swiss aerospace company, Ruag Space USA, became the first tenant of the Port Canaveral Logistics Center in Titusville.

As part of an overall expansion plan, and with a goal of accommodating larger vessels, Phase 1 of a dredging project was completed in late Fiscal Year 2016, which widened Canaveral’s 3.5-mile channel by 100 feet and expanded the current width to 500 feet overall, and initiated the harbor entrance deepening project.
In 2017, the port plans to focus on continuing measured and responsible growth, environmental sustainability, improving customer service at all levels, and adding value and support to port tenants and extended business partners, all while being a good neighbor and community leader for the Space Coast and Central Florida region.

Goals & Objectives

  • Construct and expand port facilities and infrastructure for cruise and cargo in an orderly manner to meet the growth needs of the Central Florida region, the cruise/tourism industry, the area’s industrial base of imports and exports, the foreign trade zone, local military bases, and the space industry, and to meet the recreational demands of the community.
  • Improve crucial road networks to address increased demand by both cruise and cargo business.
  • Provide the necessary port infrastructure to support the booming commercial space industry that depends on the port for recovery and relaunch operations.

Current or Planned Investments

  • Northside Development Projects: The majority of the Northside cargo terminal projects were completed in late 2016. These projects include new berths and cargo terminal and backup area with regional storm water improvements.
  • Channel: The widening and deepening of Port Canaveral’s channel was completed in late 2016. This project will facilitate expansion of cruise and cargo activity, allowing safe passage for the newer mega-cruise and cargo vessels.

Accomplishments

  • Completed $137 million in capital investments.
  • Port Canaveral is now part of the USDA’s Southeast U.S. In-transit Cold Treatment Pilot Program allowing entry into the Port of in-transit, cold treated containers of agricultural products originating in South America. • Honored with 25th consecutive CAFR Award for excellence in financial reporting.
  • Renovation of Cruise Terminals 5 and 10 to support the increasing size of cruise vessels
  • Welcomed first OEM auto imports for statewide delivery to dealerships.

Hinterland

Port Canaveral’s hinterland includes the Central Florida region paralleling the I-4 corridor and the Central Florida I-95 corridor.
  • Cargo: Central and North Florida counties of Brevard, Polk, Indian River, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia.
  • Cruise: The U.S., Europe, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.

Trade Partners

  • Imports: Port Canaveral’s top five foreign trade partners (by tonnage) are Bahamas, Canada, Venezuela, Netherlands and France.
  • Exports: The Port’s top five foreign trade partners (by tonnage) are Netherlands, Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Bahamas and Panama
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