Berth 14 receives its first ship

PORT MANATEE -- The newest berth at Palmetto's port has finally received its first ship.

Berth 14, a $7.6 million project finished last October, welcomed the UBC Livomo from Port Caleta Patillos, Chile on Jan. 16. The 623-foot-long, 106-foot-wide ship brought a 41,826-metric-ton load of salt into the port.

The event came with no fanfare, at least initially. The ship's master, Krzysytov Lezek Joziak brought the Malta-flagged Livomo into port at 2:15 a.m. Later that day, Port Executive Director Carlos Buqueras welcomed Joziak to the port and presented him with a plaque to commemorate the event.

The ship later departed for its next port of call in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Berth 14 was built as part of the 1,584-foot-long Berth 12 project. The combined berths are slightly more than twice as long as the Port's largest single berth, the 790-foot Berth 7. Construction on the big berth took about 16 months.

Port officials said the Port will never have a Berth 13, even though that should have been the next berth name. Superstitious ship captains will not moor their ships at

a berth bearing that number, considered unlucky.

Paid for by the Port, the Florida Department of Transportation, and through a federal Tiger II grant, Berth 14 has yet to have an official dedication. Dave Sanford, the Port's deputy director, said he expects the dedication to take place sometime in April.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published February 11, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Berth 14 receives its first ship ."