Port Canaveral sees $25M expansion, balances several bustling industries

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Heidelberg Material’s new nearly $25-million expansion at Port Canaveral adds 200,000 tons of capacity to support construction projects throughout Florida and beyond.

It also adds another 40 jobs to the port’s growing community.

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The port is growing in several areas, including industrial, space, cargo, and cruising. Balancing all the bustling areas is becoming a delicate balancing act.

“We’ve got aggregates, road building materials, fuels, so you know, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, we keep the airports flying. So, there’s a lot that we do that isn’t quite as boutique as cruising,” Canaveral Port Authority CEO Capt. John Murray said.

Read: Port Canaveral on pace to fly past 2022 passenger numbers, considering added parking

But Port Canaveral is now considered the world’s busiest cruise port surpassing the Port of Miami. And this week, port commissioners gave the go-ahead to review a potential location for a seventh cruise terminal at Bluepoints Marina.

“We’re not a large port. We only have 1,100 acres that is usable for port operations,” Murray said. “And we have a recreation component and a cargo component, space component, marinas, even an entertainment venue with our restaurants and so forth. So we have to balance it all.”

Read: Port Canaveral welcomes MSC Seaside for its first voyage

Murray said that new cruise terminal will be needed in the not-so-distant future.

Video: Princess Cruises to begin sailing from Port Canaveral next year A new cruise ship operation announced Tuesday that it will start sailing from Port Canaveral starting next year. (Melonie Holt, WFTV.com)

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