Port Tampa Bay busy with cold storage facility construction, new berth, gantry cranes

There's a lot going on at Port Tampa Bay.
 
In October, the Port announced that Port Logistics Refrigerated Services had begun site work for construction of a new 134,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse. The facility will handle refrigerated import and export cargoes, and it's scheduled to open in the summer of 2017.
 
Port Logistics will operate the facility, which will be able to accommodate both chilled and frozen products. It's being built on a 13.7-acre site at the Port, which serves a growing consumer market and distribution center hub along the I-4 Corridor across Central Florida.
 
"It’s important because it’s bringing economic development to the Tampa Bay area, as well as bringing a unique cargo opportunity and building a very impressive, state-of-the-art cold storage facility," says Andy Fobes, Port Tampa Bay spokesman. 
 
In addition to the cold storage facility and the infrastructure surrounding it, Port Tampa Bay is planning to open a new multi-use berth at East Port on Dec. 8. The East Port berth will be able to accommodate a variety of cargoes, Fobes says.
 
Also on Dec. 8, the Port plans to unveil its updated master plan called Vision 2030. The plan will serve as a road map to building the port toward 2030 and beyond, Fobes says.
 
In July, the Port commissioned two gantry cranes that weigh 1,600 tons each and can lift 65 tons. They're used for loading and unloading cargo containers from container ships.
 
"The two new post-Panamax gantry cranes have elevated our stature as a container port, and we are able to accommodate for ships twice as large as ever before," Fobes says.
 
The increased accommodation has allowed the Port to expand and diversify its cargo business by serving wider ships that travel through the expanded Panama Canal.
 
"Our improved facilities and continued capital program ensure that our Port will continue to serve the region well in all our diverse lines of business," Fobes says.