PORT EVERGLADES

3.7 MILLION CRUISE GUESTS 6 MILLION TONS OF CARGO AND 924,000 CONTAINERS The total value of economic activity at Port Everglades in FY 2012 was approximately $26 billion. Source: Port Everglades

PORT EVERGLADES More than 201,000 Florida jobs are impacted by the port, including almost 11,700 people who work for companies that provide direct services. Port Everglades is one of the top three cruise ports in the world. South Florida’s main seaport for petroleum products such as gasoline and jet fuel. Source: porteverglades.net

PORT EVERGLADES

PANAMA CANAL The expansion of the Panama Canal, which is expected to be completed by 2015, will reshape trade flows worldwide. As a result all of Florida’s seaports will have the opportunity to share in expanding global trade flows.

 Widening the Panama Canal will remove a major trade bottleneck between Asia and the Atlantic Coast of the United States – one of the busiest and most lucrative trade routes worldwide.  The project will double the overall capacity of the Panama Canal and enable it to handle significantly larger container ships.

PANAMA CANAL  Currently, dimensions allow passage of container ships with capacity of up to 4,400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), known as Panamax vessels.  Upon completion, the Canal will accommodate much larger, or post- Panamax, vessels carrying up to 12,600 TEU, which require 50 feet of draft in fresh water

PANAMA CANAL 70% of shipping cargo which moves through the canal heads to the coasts of the U.S. Implications are particularly significant for ports on the East Coast. Source: Florida Chamber Foundation

PANAMA CANAL Currently, most Chinese imports go to the naturally deeper West Coast ports and are then transported by rail and truck to other cities. The Panama Canal Expansion, however, may make it more cost effective for goods to be transported through the canal towards the East Coast—possibly taking 35% of the West Coast freight. PORT OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

PORT EVERGLADES Larger “Post-Panamax” vessels currently cannot arrive at Port Everglades fully loaded as they may scrape its 42-feet deep bottom. These types of ships reportedly account for 16% of the world’s container fleet – but 45% of its capacity.

PORT EVERGLADES In 15 years, they are expected to be 27% of world’s container fleet and bear 62% of the fleet’s capacity. Larger ships are in the future of shipping, necessitating appropriate channel depth and width in ports hoping to accommodate them. Source: Florida Chamber Foundation

PORT EVERGLADES Port Everglades needs to deepen the channel from 42 feet to 50 feet and widen the entrance so that cargo ships can safely pass cruise ships. The total cost is estimated at $313 million and the Corps is expected to approve it by January.

PORT EVERGLADES Under current law, federal funds can be issued for dredging, flood control, environmental restoration and other projects only if Congress specifically authorizes it -- and then, in a separate bill, votes to spend the money on it.

PORT EVERGLADES Congress has not passed a Water Infrastructure Bill in seven years. Port Everglades is financing $181 million that Congress may cover to begin the project. Design studies can start next year, actual dredging in 2018.

A BILL HAS PASSED IN THE HOUSE BUT STALLED IN THE SENATE "We have to do everything possible to make sure the South Florida economy does not miss the boat — pun intended — on the Panama Canal expansion," said U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton. “Any port that does not have the ability to dredge to 48 or 50 feet is going to be left behind,” said Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat whose district includes part of Port Everglades. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster in a news release. “When America invests in its infrastructure and keeps us competitive, that means our industry and business can be competitive and add jobs on the factory floor.”