Will SeaPort Manatee ever get a ferry or cruise line? Here’s what the port chief says
Carlos Buqueras would seem to have his hands full with the record growth of cargo business at SeaPort Manatee.
Yet, the CEO and president of SeaPort Manatee has an unrealized dream to offer passenger service as well.
Specifically, fast ferry service between SeaPort Manatee and the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, and perhaps some day Cuba as well, Buqueras said.
Although he has no companies lined up to provide such a service, he said he is always looking.
“We are talking to all the ferry operators in the world,” he recently told the Bradenton Herald.
“We need to be ready and not lose our position when and if Cuba opens,” he said.
One possible model could be Baleària Caribbean which provides ferry service between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas.
“Baleària Caribbean carried nearly 112,000 passengers on its Bahamas routes in 2022, 50% more than the previous year,” Baleària said on its website.
Such a ferry could carry between 800 and 1,000 passengers, and pass easily under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Buqueras said.
SeaPort Manatee has in the past had cruise service, but it’s been a while.
From 1993-2003, the Regal Empress offered cruises to destinations in Mexico and the western Caribbean from Port Manatee, as it was called then.
After a promising start, the cruise line ran into trouble.
In 1996, the Regal Empress was returning from a cruise to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico, with 737 passengers and 389 crew, when it ran aground on a spoil island in Tampa Bay. There were no injuries or damage to the ship.
In 2001, the adult entertainment industry chartered the ship for a cruise to Key West. Port officials raised concerns about the nature of the cruise, which was to include appearances by adult film stars and a forum on partner swapping. The cruise line then moved its departure location to Port Tampa Bay.
In 2003, Regal Cruises went out of business, and the Regal Empress was sold in a bankruptcy auction in Tampa.
Regal Cruises went defunct owing Port Manatee $350,000. Ultimately, the port recovered about $55,000.
The passenger terminal that was used by Regal Cruises at Port Manatee is no longer suitable for passengers.
In 2004, Steve Tyndall, then the port’s senior director of trade development, said the cruise terminal was surrounded by general and cargo operations.
“It’s difficult to mix passengers with cargo. In the interest of safety and better utilization of assets, we’re hoping to do something at another location in the future,” Tyndall said in 2004.
The East Coast of Florida has multiple cruise ports: Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami and Palm Beach.
The West Coast of the state has one: Tampa.
Buqueras believes there is room for one more on Florida’s west coast.
