Port Manatee rebrands as SeaPort Manatee to avoid association with the county jail
After several months in the planning, Port Manatee has been rebranded SeaPort Manatee.
Manatee County commissioners, sitting as the Manatee County Port Authority, officially announced the name change at its meeting Thursday morning.
The new logo reads “SeaPort Manatee,” underlined by the phrase “the right turn on Tampa Bay.” The stylized letter O in SeaPort Manatee shows an approaching ship.
“Over the course of more than half a century, Manatee County’s seaport has enjoyed vibrant growth and vast diversification, proficiently moving record cargo volumes while significantly enhancing infrastructure,” Reggie Bellamy, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, said during the formal unveiling.
“As SeaPort Manatee looks to the coming 50 years and beyond,” Bellamy said, “we enthusiastically embrace this freshly distinctive identity, befitting the unique nature of our seaport and our business-oriented commitment to connecting worldwide markets with the burgeoning consumer and industrial bases of Southwest and Central Florida.”
SeaPort officials also wanted to differentiate the seaport from its next-door neighbor, the Manatee County Jail. Locals often reference the jail alone as “the port” or “Port Manatee” because they are so close.
“The services provided at the port impact the entire region and you want to have your own identify. I applaud the efforts,” Bellamy said.
SeaPort Manatee generates more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impact for the local community, while supporting more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs, without the use of property taxes.
Total cargo was a record 10,451,566 tons in fiscal year 2021.
Closest port to Panama Canal
The name change is not the first in the seaport’s history.
In 1965, Manatee County bought 357 acres to launch the Barge Port and Industrial Port. That name was later changed to Port Manatee. Also in 1965, the Florida Legislature created the Manatee County Port Authority.
Port Manatee’s official dedication ceremony took place in October 1970.
The first vessel to call at what is now SeaPort Manatee was the 576-foot-long M/V Fermland with 2,000 tons of Korean plywood on Aug. 1, 1970. The formal dedication for the port was held on Oct. 29, 1970.
Primary imports at SeaPort Manatee include tropical fruits and vegetables, citrus juices and beverages, forestry products, refined petroleum products, finished phosphate fertilizers, non-ferrous metals, cement and cement clinker and steel.
Primary exports include finished phosphate products, citrus juices, construction and road building equipment, used vehicles, LNG heat exchangers, and power generation units.
The seaport has grown to more than 1,100 acres, and business has been growing rapidly in recent years. One of the seaport’s big selling points is that it is the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal.
A $13.1 million project to more than double SeaPort Manatee’s dockside container yard to 23.5 acres is nearing completion as a centerpiece of a $74 million capital improvement plan.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 5:01 PM.
