27/08/2011 - Port canaveral cruise terminal project sets sail

摘要

$60.1 million cruise terminal underway Even as they were celebrating the start of construction of a new cruise terminal, Port Canaveral officials looked ahead to their next big thing: Finding federal and state funds to widen and deepen the port channel to handle the huge new ships of the future. More than 100 community leaders gathered Friday at the port for a ceremony marking the start of construction of the Cruise Terminal 6 complex, which will cost $60.1 million. Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer J. Stanley Payne urged attendees to start lobbying their federal and state elected official to support a $34 million project to widen and deepen the port's channel. "This is absolutely critical to this port," as it seeks to preserve jobs and attract new ones, Payne said. A major expansion of the Panama Canal that is expected to be completed in 2014 will make it easier for large cruise and cargo ships to go from the Pacific to Adantic Coast ports like Port Canaveral. As a precursor to the larger effort to accommodate larger cruise and cargo ships, the port has completed a $7.8 million project to remove 600,000 cubic yards of dirt from its West Turning Basin. The move will allow larger ships to maneuver in the basin.