Containerized cargo continues hot streak at local port

The surge in containerized cargo at SeaPort Manatee has continued as the first six months of the fiscal year come to a close. 

The port’s containerized cargo tonnage is up 32.2%, compared to the half of fiscal 2021, which ends March 31. During these last few months, the company handled 660,847 short tons of containerized cargo, marking a new all-time high.  

“SeaPort Manatee’s sustained growth in all sectors of cargo activity demonstrates continuing ability to adeptly meet the needs of consumers and industry throughout Central and Southwest Florida and beyond,” says Carlos Buqueras, the port's executive director, in a news release. “With completion of expansion of dockside container yard facilities and other infrastructure enhancements, as well as thousands of on- and near-port acres available for future growth, SeaPort Manatee is perfectly poised to keep moving even more commerce.”

Although the record in containerized cargo is one of the biggest that the port — which rebranded in February as SeaPort Manatee — broke so far this year, it’s not the only one. The port also set a new record in: 

• 20-foot container units with a 26% increase. 
• Total cargo tonnage of 5.37 million, for a 10.4% over a year earlier.
• Noncontainerized breakbulk tonnage of 351,878, up 34.4%.
• Dry bulk tonnage with an increase of 13%.
• Liquid bulk tonnage of 3.12 million, up 3.8%.

“The remarkable ongoing activity gains at SeaPort Manatee are a testament to our ability to provide leading-edge facilities for efficient movement of a wide range of vital goods,” Reggie Bellamy, chair of the Manatee County Port Authority, says in the release. “Meanwhile, a team of expert consultants, in concert with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, is working to complete a blueprint for further growth and still-greater contributions to our region’s economy.”