Florida’s Port Everglades and the US-based marine terminal operator King Ocean Services Limited have renewed their 20-year lease agreement.
The agreement calls for a minimum 72,000 container lifts annually over an initial 10-year term with two five-year renewal options, and is expected to generate approximately USD 56 million in revenue to the port during the initial 10 years.
This deal includes relocating King Ocean’s terminal within the port’s Southport cargo area during construction for the Southport Turning Notch extension project, which will lengthen the existing deepwater turn-around area from 900 feet to 2,400 feet and allow for up to five new cargo berths.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and be completed by the end of 2019.
During its 22 years in the port, King Ocean, which operates twice-weekly from Port Everglades with services to Venezuela, Aruba, Curacao, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, has expanded its marine terminal from the original 22.84-acre site to 41.1 total acres in two locations within the port.
In 2015, the company handled 153,984 TEUs through port Everglades.