Seaports Navigate Beyond the Pandemic

August 12, 2021 – The Florida Seaports Transportation and Economic Development Council (FSTED) recently released Seaport Mission Plan: Navigating Beyond the Pandemic, providing an in-depth data review of COVID-19’s impact, as well as forthcoming opportunities, for Florida’s 15 seaports. Port Canaveral is an important part of the economy of the Space Coast and this report shows the challenges faced and met by seaports in Florida.

Also recently, Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault announced allocation plans for the $250 million in COVID-related financial relief for Florida’s seaports, spreading economic relief across the state’s 15 seaports.  Port Canaveral is slated to receive more than $72 million of this relief funding. 

Highlights from the 2021 Seaport Mission Plan include:

• Breakbulk cargo experienced an overall year-over-year increase, growing 8.8 percent to 7.8 million tons in 2020.
• Waterborne trade value decreased 16.1 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.
• South and Central American and the Caribbean remained as Florida’s top trade partner region, and accounted for a larger percentage of total trade in 2020 than in 2019.
• Japan topped China as Florida’s leading import trade partner country in 2020 for the second year in a row.
• With COVID-19 bringing cruise sailings to a halt in 2020, Florida’s 158,992 cruise-related jobs, and $8.1 billion in economic activity were severely impacted. However, fundamentals of the cruise industry remain strong and the combination of pent-up demand and widespread vaccinations are expected to result in a full long-term recovery of the industry.

Of the $3.3 billion in seaport capital improvements identified over the next five years, 70.7 percent ($2.3 billion) is slated for Atlantic Coast seaports, with the remaining 29.4 percent ($972.8 million) dedicated to Gulf Coast seaports.

Read the full report here.
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