This seaport in northern Manatee County will soon begin a $1 million modernization project that will close its south gate for the next 12 weeks.
Beginning June 13, Port Manatee will begin work on a project to modernize its security and traffic flow at the gate, off U.S. 41.
With the temporary closing, all port road traffic will be routed through Port Manatee’s north gate complex at Reeder Road and North Dock Street.
The $1 million modernization project will be paid for primarily through a federal port security grant.
“The improvements will significantly bolster security while further promoting safe, efficient movement of cargo, including oversized project pieces,” said David St. Pierre, Port Manatee’s director of seaport security.
The closing comes at a busy time for the port: Officials there are still feeling the economy’s strength, despite some signs of softening, with containerized cargo rising in the first half of the fiscal year by 36 percent over last year.
From Oct. 1 to March 31, Port Manatee’s docks moved 12,653 20-foot-equivalent container units, or TEUs in the trade vernacular. That was up from 9,321 in the comparable year-earlier fiscal half.
Import TEUs were the strongest performer, rising 40 percent, to 7,398 TEUs from 5,291, according to officials managing the port in northern Manatee County.
That increase in business was coming off a strong fiscal 2015, where the port saw an 83 percent rise in TEUs handled compared with the preceding fiscal year.
During the recent six-month period, Port Manatee handled 3,310,873 tons of cargo. That was up 5.7 percent from 3,132,705 tons during the first half of the previous fiscal year.
Port executive director Carlos Buqueras said the increase was propelled “by the handling of additional project cargos and substantial gains in the liquid bulk sector, including diesel, gasoline, ethanol and asphalt. The primary contributing factor was the fuel supply agreement inked in late 2015 with RaceTrac Petroleum Inc.”
Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the expanding Panama Canal, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers.
The expanded Panama Canal is due to begin operations June 26.
