Commerce Secretary Ross To Visit Port of Fernandina this Friday

Nassau County Ocean Highway & Port Authority
MEDIA RELEASE
March 27. 2019 1:30 p.m.

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL (March 27, 2019) — Wilbur Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, will visit Nassau County and the Port of Fernandina Friday, March 29, to promote economic development, opportunity zones, and increasing exports of agricultural and other products through the Port.

Secretary Ross will speak to a group of local business people and officials at 2:15 p.m. on the lawn of the Port’s former Quartermaster House, 501 N. 3rd Street in Fernandina Beach.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

“The visit by Secretary Ross emphasizes the increasingly significant role the Fernandina Port is playing in making this community a gateway for global trade, particularly with South America, Europe and Asia, the benefits of public-private partnerships, and in the increasing economic importance of Nassau County and surrounding areas,” says Port Director Laura DiBella.    

Prior to his speaking engagement Secretary Ross will tour the port facility hosted by the Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County and Aldebaran Partners, an independent global corporate advisory firm.

During his visit Secretary Ross will be briefed on recent and planned enhancements to the port including the installation in January of the towering Liebherr Mobile Harbor Crane that enables port employees to move cargo more efficiently, improve vessel turnaround and serve more ships, faster and safer.   

It was also announced in February that Worldwide Terminals Fernandina LLC — which assumed the role of port operator in early 2018 when it purchased Nassau Terminals LLC – is launching a new monthly vessel service at the Port of Fernandina with SDW Shipping, a private Netherlands company significantly strengthening the port’s connections with Europe, Central and South America. 

According to Christopher Ragucci, CEO of Worldwide Terminals Fernandina, modernization of the port is continuing with plans for capital investments of $15 million for additional cranes, cargo handling equipment, on-dock warehousing, and more.  

“The visit by Secretary Ross is testimony to the growing strategic role the Port of Fernandina plays due to its location in the burgeoning Southeast and the excellent connections to the U.S. mainland it offers to a global network of vessels and customers,” says Ragucci.

The Port of Fernandina is a rail-served, natural deep water port on the Atlantic seaboard, just 2.2 miles from the open ocean.  It handles a variety of cargoes, including steel, aluminum, machinery, paper and forest products and consumer goods.  It has 250,000 square-feet of on-site warehouse space, 100,000+ square-feet off-port, and 10 acres of open storage, all which sits minutes away from a new six-lane A1A/SR 200 highway enabling easy access to both Interstates 95 and 10.  

Located on the east side of the Amelia River on Amelia Island in Nassau County and abutting the city of Fernandina Beach, the Port of Fernandina, operated by the Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County, is an independent special-purpose district created in 1941 by the Florida State Legislature.  It was authorized to operate for the benefit of the citizens of Nassau County and the state and to encourage economic development in Nassau County.  The Port of Fernandina supports more than 55 direct jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs throughout Nassau County and contributes greatly to the local economy.  The Port of Fernandina handled over 290,000 tons of cargo last year and is on course to double this amount in 2019.  It is governed by five elected commissioners representing the five voting districts of Nassau County who are accountable to the Nassau County electorate.

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Joe L Blanchard
Joe L Blanchard(@jlblan2)
5 years ago

It would be very nice if he were also given a tour and briefing on the status of the City Marina.

Dave Lott
Dave Lott(@dave-l)
5 years ago

And the benefit of that would be????

Thomas Washburn
Thomas Washburn (@guest_54749)
5 years ago

What will be the impact of increased truck traffic in downtown Fernandina Beach, where streets are two, then one lane each way? Business interests may well be served, but what about those of citizens of this city?