State Officials Warn Port Over Changes

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

The state has warned Port Canaveral leaders that they are putting at risk current and future infrastructure money if they don’t reverse dock plans that appear to favor cruise ships over the space industry.

In a letter Friday, Department of Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly and Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue expressed dismay about Port Canaveral — one of the world’s busiest cruise ports — changing cruise terminal plans in a way that would affect expansion of liquified natural-gas facilities that serve the space industry.

“Florida’s cruise tourism and commercial space launch sectors are both vitally important,” Kelly and Perdue wrote. “Port Canaveral bears the responsibility of housing and supporting both. We will help you do both. But in this case, the port has announced its intention to support one sector to the direct detriment of the other. That decision must, therefore, be reversed.”

Unless the port returns to its earlier plans, Kelly and Perdue warned Florida will take actions such as the Department of Transportation shifting planned investments to other seaports and spaceports and the Department of Commerce halting funding for Port Canaveral projects.

The letter said the Department of Commerce will “stringently” review whether the port complied with terms of an $8.245 million grant received in 2018 through the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund. That grant made up the bulk of funding for a $12 million road project and was provided, in part, to support the aerospace industry, the letter said.

Also, the letter warned that the Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation would not certify three recent applications to the Florida Seaport Tourism Economic Development Council for projects related to the cruise industry.

Port spokesman Steven Linden said in a statement that the port’s board understands the concerns and will work with the state on resolving the issues.

“The port has been an integral part of the commercial space industry’s growth and operations in our state, and our commitment to the enterprise remains strong,” Linden said in the statement. “We look forward to working in partnership with Secretary Perdue and Secretary Kelly towards a positive resolution.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 21.

In May, the port announced that instead of building new cruise terminals on the southern portion of port property, what is known as North Cargo Berth 8 would be redesignated for cruise operations and adjacent property would be used for parking garages.

Kelly and Perdue contended the change “reneges” on plans to expand access to liquified natural gas by reallocating some of the berth’s displaced cargo operations.

Also in May, Space Florida, the state’s aerospace agency, announced it must nearly double by 2033 the current footprint of about 2,800 linear feet of wharf space around Port Canaveral to help the expanding private space industry over the next half-century.

The need would incrementally grow to an additional 9,135 linear feet by 2073, according to the agency’s “Florida Spaceport System Maritime Intermodal Transportation Study.”

The estimated cost ranges from $42.2 million for the first phase to $2.1 billion for what is outlined as a seven-phase project. In part, the additional space would help with retrieval of boosters and capsules.

Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station have had 55 launches in 2024. Florida had a record 72 orbital rocket launches in 2023, up from 57 in 2022 and 31 in 2021.

Port Canaveral handled 6.92 million cruise passengers in 2023, globally behind only PortMiami with 7.3 million cruise passengers.