Obama budget earmarks $1.1 million for Port Manatee

PORT MANATEE -- A push to build Manatee County's seaport into a facility capable of handling the largest ships on the seas may get $700,000 in federal funds to help make it happen.

The funding is included in President Barack Obama's 2016 civil works budget announced this week. If Congress approves the budget, it will mark the second consecutive year Port Manatee has received money for plans to deepen its berths and shipping channels to 45 feet from the present 40.

Obama's budget also earmarks $300,000 for port maintenance and $100,000 for port harbor operations. The money would be available for the fiscal year starting Oct. 15.

The port garnered $100,000 in 2014 to pay for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project study.

Dave Sanford, port deputy executive director, said it is "extremely unusual" for a project to receive study money in consecutive federal budgets. Port Manatee is the only Florida port designated to receive federal funds this year and one of just 10 waterways in the continental United States. The money built into the 2016 budget would pay for a full feasibility study of the deepening.

Expected to cost tens of millions of dollars and take up to eight years to complete, the deepening would take the port to the minimum depth needed to accommodate some of the biggest cargo-hauling ships in the world.

Carlos Buqueras, port executive director, said no port in the state has 45 feet of

water. Port Miami is closest with 43 feet. Miami and Port Everglades are pursuing plans to deepen channels up to 50 feet.

Deeper water, Buqueras said, is key to building more cargo business at the port.

"Depth is the equivalent of runway length at an airport," he said. "Without that, it's hard to land the big ships."

The extra depth would make Port Manatee a primary destination for heavy load ships, Sanford said. The Army Corps recommended Port Manatee receive this proposed funding to bring more efficiency to the state shipping industry.

For example, Sanford said, fertilizer giant Mosaic could fully load cargo ships at Port Manatee without worrying about bottoming out. If Mosaic was loading ships at Port Manatee's present depth, the company would have to finish at a deeper port. The Army Corps wants to curtail this practice.

"With 45 feet of water, we could fully load those ships right here," Sanford said. "It would be more efficient."

The port lost most of its business with Mosaic last year when the company moved ship-loading operations to its own Tampa Bay docking facilities.

The three-year feasibility study will determine whether the deepening can and should occur. The economic thrust of the study must show deepening port waters will generate enough business and efficiency to justify the expense.

The study will also include preliminary engineering and determine whether the project requires an environmental impact study.

Sanford said he expects the funding to be approved by Congress as the body rarely challenges civil projects in a president's budget.

The deepening would be one of two major construction projects at the port. Over the next 10 years, the port also plans to rebuild six ship berths at an estimated cost of $62 million. Sanford said the rebuilds are necessary to increase the amount of weight the aging berths can handle.

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

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Obama budget earmarks $1.1 million for Port Manatee ."