Encyclopedia
| Port Canaveral
Encyclopedia
|
| Tutorials | Encyclopedia | Dictionary | Directory |
|
 
Port Canaveral
Port Canaveral is a major cruise and cargo port located in Brevard County, Florida. Port Canaveral is the second busiest cruise port in the world with 4.6 million cruise passengers passing through during 2004. Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean International, Holland America, and Norwegian Cruise Line are some of the cruise lines which regularly dock at one of the six cruise terminals. The port also bears operations for the casino ships of SunCruz Casinos. A world-class deep water port, Port Canaveral also has a high volume of cargo traffic. Over of bulk cargo moves through Port Canaveral each year. Commonly shipped cargo includes cement, petroleum and aggregate. The port is equipped with conveyors and hoppers for loading products directly into trucks, and facilities for bulk cargo containers. There is of covered freight storage capacity. It handled of cargo in 2004. The port exports fresh citrus; bulk frozen citrus juice stored in one of the largest freezer warehouses in the state; cement and building materials. The port receives lumber, salt for water softening, automobiles, and steel sheet and plate. It transships items for land, sea, air and space. Having the shortest direct entry on Florida's East Coast, Port Canaveral offers 45-minute transit time from the first sea buoy to docking. Port Canaveral's Foreign Trade Zone is among the largest general purpose FTZs in the nation - over . The port boosts Brevard's economy by 1/2 billion dollars annually. In April 2007, shipping was off 25.6% for the previous six months compared to the previous year, down to per months.[1]
Governing AuthorityPort commissioners are elected from the surrounding area by popular vote. They must live in specific areas, but are elected by voters in all five districts. The races are partisan.
HistoryConcept and early development
Port Canaveral welcome sign. Note the anchor and Space shuttle logo. Cruise traffic first appeared at the port in 1964, with the SS Yarmouth Castle, recently purchased by Yarmouth Cruise Lines from the Chadade Steamship Company. The ship was American owned, with registration from Panama. The ship burned at sea between Miami and Nassau in 1965, and cruise traffic was limited until the 1980s. In 1965, a lock was dedicated at the port. The Canaveral Lock is still in operation, and is maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The focus of the port throughout the 1960s and 1970s remained commercial fishing and shipping, with three cargo piers built on the north side of the Port in 1976, and a succession of warehouses built in the port area. Port Canaveral has played an important role in support of NASA projects out of nearby John F. Kennedy Space Center. Specifically, the Space Shuttle's external tanks are floated into Port Canaveral for each mission from their fabrication facility in Mississippi, and the solid rocket boosters are towed back through Port Canaveral after being fished out of the Atlantic Ocean after each launch. In 2008, Sterling Casino Lines ceased doing business at the port.[3] Cruise traffic
Cruise ships docked at Port Canaveral. From left to right: Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean ships. Expanding the Cruise capability of the port begun in 1982, two more warehouses were converted to cruise terminals in 1983. The following year the SS Royale of Premier Cruise Line was homeported at Port Canaveral. The first year-round 3- and 4-day cruises to the Bahamas began. A fourth cruise terminal was opened in 1986. As of January, 2008, the following cruise ships homeported at Port Canaveral:
Royal Caribbean is currently planning changes to its ship lineup at Port Canaveral. In December 2008, they have announced their intention to sell Sovereign to Pullmantur Cruises and replace it with Monarch of the Seas. In 2009, they intend to move Mariner to the Port of Los Angeles, and to transfer the Freedom of the Seas to Port Canaveral from Port of Miami-Dade. Also in 2009, Carnival Cruise lines has announced its intention to move the Carnival Dream to Port Canaveral. StatisticsFiscal year 2007-8 started slowly. There was a 44.5% drop in cargo in October and November compared with the preceding year. Multiday cruise passengers dropped 14.4%, and gambling passengers dropped 23.7%. Cargo slowdown was attributed to a slowdown in construction in Florida due to the weakened housing market. Cement imports, tied to construction, was , a drop of 87.6% for the two month comparison with the previous year. Petroleum, the ports largest single import, was , a drop of 25% over the same period.[4] SeaFestThe SeaFest seafood festival was first held in 1983.[5] The celebration occurred over three days in early spring, and was co-hosted by the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Canaveral Port Authority. It featured live music, local artists, and seafood. In 2005, the final year of the festival at the port, of freshly caught fish, including flounder, Florida rock shrimp, blue crab claws and of seafood chowder were consumed at the festival. In 2006, because of security concerns and the site being needed for cargo, the festival was forced to move elsewhere and was renamed. In 2008 it tried to move back but was canceled. Future plansThe Canaveral Port Authority announced in 2006 several plans for the future
Carnival Cruise Lines has announced that the new Carnival Dream ? the largest Carnival has ever constructed ? will be based at Port Canaveral, Fla., beginning in fall 2009.[7] 
The rocket booster recovery ship Freedom Star with a spent solid rocket booster (SRB) from the STS-114 launch in tow as it makes it way through Port Canaveral. FootnotesExternal links
de:Port Canaveral es:Port Canaveral 
Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article 
|
|
top
©2008-2009 TutorGig.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement
