Florida niche port aiming to build on mini-hub status

Fernandina Beach, the most northerly city on the Atlantic coast of Florida, with a colourful history going back to French colonial times, is making a name for itself yet again thanks to the rapidly rising prominence of its multipurpose deepwater port.

A growing number of shippers in the Caribbean region are taking advantage of the transshipment services offered by the Port of Fernandina, which has found a successful niche for itself as a mini-hub for Central and South American trade to and from North Florida and the south-east Atlantic region in general.

The Port of Fernandina handled over 290,000 tons of cargo last year and is on course to double this in 2019. 

“Our business plans call for the Port of Fernandina to focus on becoming a hub for the Caribbean trade,” says Christopher T. Ragucci, chief executive of Worldwide Terminals Fernandina. “We can provide higher levels of service and hands-on management here at Fernandina that is not available for Caribbean shippers at other South Atlantic ports that cater to the mega-containership trade.”

Deepwater

Located just 2.2 miles from the open ocean, Fernandina is a natural deepwater port with rail connections. The port has a channel draft of 36 ft MLW, with no overhead obstructions, and its 950 ft turning basin is adjacent to a 1,200 liner foot pier.

The terminal currently handles exports of paper and forest products to the Caribbean, Central and South America by companies such as Barnett Paper, WestRock and Caribbean Forest Carriers as well as project cargo and containerized cargo. It also serves as homeport for Somers Isles Shipping’s containerized service to Bermuda, now in its 33rd year. The terminal handles imported forest products from Asia, Brazil and Scandinavia as well as some bulk cargo.

Agreement

The port is operated by Worldwide Terminals Fernandina, which took over from Kinder Morgan in February last year. A 34-year operating agreement between the port and Worldwide was signed in November.

In February this year Worldwide announced a deal to launch a new monthly vessel service at Fernandina, commencing in April, operated by the Netherlands-based company SDW Shipping. General cargo vessels of about 15,000 gt will be used to carry breakbulk, project and heavy lift cargoes as well as containers. The new service will originate in Uddevalla, Sweden, calling Bilbao, Spain, before proceeding to Fernandina for discharge of lumber and steel. It will then load back cargo, potentially calling at ports in Guatemala or Costa Rica, and will then transit the Panama Canal en route to west coast South America. Ports of call will include Buenaventura (Colombia), Callao (Peru) and Arica and Iquique (Chile), where the service will discharge and load back cargoes for Fernandina. This new service revives the historical link between Fernandina and Europe while allowing the port to take advantage of its status as a mini-hub for Central and South American trade to and from North Florida and the south-east Atlantic. 

Handling facilities

The Port of Fernandina handles a variety of cargoes, including steel, aluminum, machinery, paper and forest products and consumer goods. Tug services are available and most vessels can transit from the sea buoy in one hour.

Fernandina has 250,000 sq ft of on-site warehouse space, over 100,000 sq ft off-port, 10 acres of open storage and a fully certified container freight station. The port is looking to acquire Foreign Trade Zone designation soon.

Handling facilities were enhanced in January with the acquisition of a Liebherr LHM 400 mobile harbor crane. Other port equipment includes a gantry crane with a 13 container wide reach, a rail-mounted Clyde heavy lift gantry crane and a mobile gantry crane as well as three top loaders, over 30 fork-lift trucks and various yard tractors and trailers.

There are plans to invest an extra US$ 15 million in the coming years to modernize the port’s facilities, with additional cranes and cargo handling equipment as well as a berth extension and an on-dock paper warehouse for the convenience of port customers.

The port is located only a few minutes from a new six-lane A1A/SR 200 highway with ready access to Interstates 95 and 10.

‘Isle of Eight Flags’

The city of Fernandina Beach, from which the modern port takes its name, has a history going back to the earliest days of colonial rule in the mid 16th century and before that to its original settlement by Native Americans.

Fernandina Beach is the seat of Nassau County in Northern Florida. It is located on Amelia Island, known as the ‘Isle of Eight Flags’ because of the eight different nations or national regions whose authority has held sway there. These have been: France, Spain, Great Britain, the Republic of Florida, the Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, the Confederate States of America and the United States.