PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A ribbon cutting on Thursday ceremoniously reopened Port Canaveral’s North Cargo Berth 3, which has been out of service for nine years, with nearly 900 feet of new dock space for larger ships.
Port Canaveral’s CEO, Florida’s transportation secretary and state legislators capped off a year of constructing the new cargo pier.
State Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-District 19, said the renovated berth has a “huge economic impact for Florida.”
Originally opening in the 1970s as shipping traffic became larger, the port said the cargo berth became useless, going out of service in 2014.
“Today, however, marks the beginning of a new chapter for our port,” port CEO Captain John Murray said.
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After a roughly $50 million renovation, the port said it’s welcoming its first deliveries to the new dock.
“Port Canaveral is positioned strategically not only to grow the cruise industry, but also to keep moving cargo in and out of this area to help the supply chain be healthy, sustainable, resilient for many, many years to come,” FDOT secretary Jared Perdue said.
The port is best known for record-breaking numbers of cruise passengers, but when the pandemic shut down cruising, the port said space operations and cargo still stayed strong.
Cargo operations broke records of its own.
“When COVID hit and the cruise lines stopped moving, this team brought in cargo from around the globe, and look at us today, still open,” said state Sen. Tom Wright, R-District 8.
During the shutdown, the port also received more than $70 million from the American Rescue Plan.
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