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About the Port of Canaveral (Cruise Port Information)
Port Canaveral has developed from a small oil and shrimp port into the 2nd busiest cruise port in the world. Today it is an international hub for cargo from humble beginnings when a cargo vessel loaded with newsprint and a petroleum tanker made the first calls on Port Canaveral in 1955. Three years later, Tropicana tanker vessels began transporting refrigerated single-strength orange juice to New York out of Port Canaveral.
Bulk cement was first shipped through the port in the mid-1960s. Petroleum, which continues to be one of Port Canaveral's major imports, accounted for 93 percent of the Port's cargo by 1966, while cement imports represented six percent. The remaining one percent of cargo included newsprint, military and miscellaneous cargo. During 1966, Port Canaveral's cargo tonnage reached the one-millionth mark for the first time.
As cargo tonnage continued to increase, so did the varieties of cargo shipped through Port Canaveral. In the 1970s, scrap steel processed locally for export was added to the port's list of cargo, as well as fresh citrus cargo exports to Northern Europe and Japan. During the 1980s, citrus concentrate became a key import in addition to deciduous concentrates from Argentina and Chile.
Solar salt (evaporated sea water) used for premium water conditioning and in agricultural markets, also became a new commodity at Port Canaveral in 1982. Morton Salt Company opened a solar salt processing plant at Port Canaveral in 1990, and today more than a quarter of a million tons of salt is shipped through the Port annually.
In the early 1990s, single strength orange juice came back after a 30-year hiatus. Other primary cargoes at Port Canaveral, such as lumber, cement and newsprint also have increased steadily since the 1980s. The seafood industry also continues to thrive at Port Canaveral.
Harbor District
The Canaveral Harbor Port District was created by House Bill 1136, Chapter 28922, from the Laws of Florida Special Acts of 1953. This law created, organized, and established a port district in Brevard County, Florida, and designated the area as the Canaveral Port District. It was subdivided into five regions with a commissioner elected from each of the areas.
As an independent entity, the Canaveral Port Authority can levy ad valorem taxes, incur indebtedness through the sale of bonds, establish Federal Maritime Commission -regulated tariff rates and negotiate for government grants. In 1986, the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to cease levying an ad valorem tax, which had been collected annually from property owners in the Port District. The Canaveral Port Authority is only the second public body in the history of Brevard County to stop levying taxes.
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