Contractors for Florida’s largest container port Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) have wrapped up a year-long multi-million dollar construction project to expand the vehicle Berth 22 at the Blount Island Marine Terminal.
According to Jaxport, the berth is the first of two projects in a $60 million initiative to ‘enhance’ efficiencies and enable the berth to accommodate larger vehicle vessels than it could previously serve. It is understood that 75% of the funds were covered by the Florida Department of Transportation while Jaxport matched the remaining 25%.
Now that work has finished, Berth 22 has ample room for ships boasting an overall length of roughly 750 feet (228.6 meters), the port explained.
As disclosed, construction for the second berth at Blount Island has already begun. Estimates show that work should last around 24 months with completion slated for early 2027.
“Maintaining congestion-free vessel facilities as cargo volumes grow is an important part of our short and long-term planning processes. These upgrades allow us to serve our auto customers more efficiently while providing additional capacity for future growth, so we can continue to build on our position as one of the nation’s top vehicle-handling ports,” Jaxport CEO Eric Green highlighted.
Over the past couple of years, Jaxport has made numerous investments to improve its berths and ‘enhance’ operational efficiency at the Blount Island container terminal. In spring 2022, the port authority revealed that the final stage of a $100 million berth enhancement project at the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal (JCT) had been finished.
This rehabilitation endeavor—also backed by 75% support from the Florida Department of Transportation—initially began in 2016 and saw the installation of high-voltage electrical systems equipped to power up to ten eco-friendly container cranes.
As reported, north of $72 million in phased yard improvements to enable SSA JCT to accommodate 500,000 TEUs annually had also been kick-started. This was funded by SSA Atlantic, in addition to a $20 million grant from the US Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD).
In November 2022, Jaxport clinched a $23.5 million grant from the Department of Transportation aimed at reducing harmful pollutant emissions.
It was disclosed that another $31.2 million was set aside for buying new environmentally friendly cargo handling equipment for the SSA JCT, including six hybrid-electric rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes and almost a dozen units of low- and zero-emission container top picks, forklifts, and related charging infrastructure.
As the maritime industry presses on with decarbonization efforts, ports across the United States have kept pace through scores of investments into eco-friendly equipment, technology and infrastructure.
Back in November 2024, MARAD splashed out almost $580 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund 31 port improvement projects in 15 states and one US territory. Some of the winners of the grant were the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the Don Young Port of Alaska, and the Port of Oakland.
This came just a month after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed the winners of the Clean Ports program grant aimed at supporting the deployment of zero-emission equipment and technology.