Board of Commissioners elect
Joseph D. Anderson as Chair

At a special meeting Tuesday, the Port of Palm Beach Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to appoint Joseph D. Anderson as its new chairman.

Among the board members, Blair J. Ciklin, the longest serving Port Commissioner, was voted into the position of vice-chair. Dr. Jean L. Enright, 16-year board member, was named Secretary- Treasurer.

Anderson succeeds Wayne M. Richards as Chair.

New Board Chairman Joseph Anderson receiving gavel from former Chairman Wayne Richards.

During the special meeting, the Board appointed Dr. Enright as the Port’s Liaison to the City of Riviera Beach.

Commissioner Katherine M. Waldron will serve as a board member for the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency in 2021.

Commissioners Waldron and Dr. Enright will both serve as Port representatives for the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County.

Chairman Anderson, who joined the board in January 2019 and served as Vice Chair in 2020, says he’s excited about the new leadership role and has several plans for the Port.

Read news release

Learn about your Port Commissioners

Unique research superyacht docks at Port

Advanced superyacht, OceanXplorer, arrived at the Port of Palm Beach this month. Port Director of Planning and Development, Carl Baker, shot drone video of the research vessel docking at the Port on January 5.

According to the OceanXplorer website, the ship is the most advanced exploration, research and media vessel ever built. The ship's crew was recently exploring the Red Sea. The OceanXplorer has four deep sea vehicles, four onboard labs and a production studio.

Watch drone video

Berth One Palm Beach has a berth assignment for OceanXplorer and the handling of the lines was performed by Heavy Lift Services.

Explore the Ship

PORT TENANTS ASSIST WITH SURPRISE CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR BAHAMIAN FAMILY

Heavy Lift Services stevedore, Joey Dias, driving modular home onto the Inagua Spray

Heavy Lift Services stevedore, Joey Dias, driving modular home onto the M/V Inagua Spray.

Every holiday season, Port of Palm Beach tenants play a significant role in exporting Christmas presents to people living in the Bahamas.

This year, Heavy Lift Services, Inc. Gulfstream Line, Port Contractors and Bahamas Ferries Ltd. worked together to transport a modular home that was donated to a family, who lost their home to Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.

The home was donated by the Beck Foundation. Volunteers with a design and build company called Factory Blue, constructed the home more than 1200 miles from Marsh Harbour.

We are happy to share Esther Laing and her children received the once in a lifetime gift just in time for Christmas.

Modular home after being loaded onto the M/V Inagua Spray.

Esther Laing, the recipient of the home.

Modular home after being installed in the Bahamas.

Watch Video

Moody’s Investors Service affirms Port of Palm Beach’s Baa2 rating with stable outlook

This month, Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) issued a credit opinion for the Port of Palm Beach affirming the Port has maintained a Baa2 with a stable outlook.

The bases for Moody’s determination is the Port’s strong financial performance.

According to Moody’s, the following items all played a role in the Port’s current credit profile.

Multi-year contracts with largest tenants with minimum annual revenue guarantees
Strong liquidity
Sound financial margins
An aggressive capital investment program that is forecasted to be all cash and grant funded

Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Director, Paul Zielinski

“The Port of Palm Beach, like most businesses, was significantly impacted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. While we saw a slight declines in cargo shipments, the no-sail order on our cruise business was and continues to be our greatest challenge,” said Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Director Paul Zielinski. “We have the financial depth to meet these challenges with a liquidity position exceeding 24 months. We also have the ability to maintain a favorable liquidity position as a result, of both the solid profit margins inherent in our long-term agreements and our continued commitment during this time to control expenses.”

Monthly financials and cargo tonnage reports

The monthly financials and cargo tonnage reports for the month of November are now available on our website.

Read reports

January Port Employee Work Anniversaries

This January, marks 22 years since Tacaria Anderson Jones began her career at the Port of Palm Beach. Anderson started off as an intern. Six months later she accepted a position as a Fiscal Technician. Anderson has spent the last two decades working in several areas of the Finance Department. She is currently Manager of Contract Compliance and AR and works closely with Port tenants.

Senior Director of Seaport Operations and Security, Kenneth Hern, is celebrating 18 years at the Port of Palm Beach. Hern started his career at the Port as a contractor who processed and made badges for people needing restricted access to the Port. Eight months later, he accepted the position of Assistant Manager of Operations and Security. The former Army veteran has been credited for creating a first of its kind "One-One Plan" security approach that was approved by the USCG. Most recently, Hern has guided our staff and tenants through the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure business remains as usual.

Join us in congratulating our employees for their dedication to our Port.

Upcoming Virtual "Tenant Coffee"

Mark your calendars!

All Port tenants are welcome to join our second virtual "Tenant Coffee" scheduled for Thursday, February 11th at 9 AM. This will be a quick virtual gathering that will give tenants the opportunity to hear from the Port's new Board Chairman Joseph Anderson, receive updates from several Port staff members and speak with U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Acting Port Director David Scroggins.

We hope in the near future we can go back to our in-person gatherings, but for now we will stay communicating from a safe distance.

Meet CBP's new Acting Port Director

CBP Acting Port Director David Scroggins

United States Customs and Border Protection's Port of West Palm Beach Office is now being led by Acting Port Director David Scroggins. Scroggins succeeds Jennifer Connors who retired last month.

"My mission as Acting Port Director, is to safeguard the American homeland by protecting the public against terrorism and instruments of terror. I am steadfastly committed to enforcing the laws of the United States while fostering our country's economic security through lawful international trade and travel," Scroggins said.

Scroggins joined CBP in February 2003. Prior to his assignment, Scroggins most recently served as Chief of the Advanced Targeting Unit and Canine Enforcement Unit for Tactical Operations at Miami International Airport.

During is 18 years of federal service, he has served in various leadership roles including Chief of Passenger Operations Command Center for Miami International Airport and the National Targeting Center-Cargo Watch Commander for Container Security Initiative.

Scroggins encourages Port tenants to contact him if they have any issues or concerns.

Port of Palm Beach "Tenant Spotlight"

Southeast Hay Distributors CEO Alexander Christensen

We are currently working on featuring Southeast Hay Distributors in our next “Tenant Spotlight.” The company, a wholesale outlet for feed stores, polo teams and large farms, operates a warehouse in Southgate and works closely with other tenants to ship its products to the Caribbean.

The company’s CEO, Alexander Christensen, and staff have been extremely flexible and helpful in assisting Port staff with the in-house production process.

Remember the purpose of the “Tenant Spotlight” is to give Port tenants more positive exposure and educate our community about the services offered at the Port. Corporation is crucial in making these segments happen.

Thank you Southeast Hay Distributors!

Southeast Hay toll free number 1-800-735-7906

Director of Planning and Development Carl Baker

An inside look at your local Port

This March will be one year since we suspended our in-person public Port tours due to the pandemic. A few months later, we decided to create a virtual tour for our community partners who were interested in learning about Port operations.

Our staff is available for a Q & A session for all those who participate in our virtual tour. You can email your requests to the Port's Public Information Officer, Yaremi Farinas.

Watch Virtual Tour

Celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

While MLK-related events looked a little different this year, communities in our area honored the civil rights icon by hosting virtual and socially distanced events. The City of Riviera Beach held a "Community Cleanup" on MLK Day, there are virtual book discussions scheduled for this week and this Saturday, January 23, the city is hosting a MLK Community Drive-In Movie Night.

View City of Riviera Beach's 2021 MLK Celebration
"Appreciating the Dream" events

COVID-19 Update

You can stay-up to date on how the Port is handling the COVID-19 pandemic, by visiting our COVID-19 alert page on our website.

Drive-thru food

distributions continue

Food distributions held at the Port of Palm Beach continue every Saturday from 3 PM to 5:30 PM.

The weekly events are possible thanks to Hospitality Helping Hands and its partners.

The no-contact food distribution events provide families with nutritional groceries, baby products and pet food.

Drivers are asked to enter the Port on 301 Broadway Avenue.

View map

Upcoming Commission Meetings

You're invited to attend our Board of Commissioners meetings, held at 4:00 pm in the Cruise Terminal, on the 2nd Floor of the Port's Maritime Office Complex (MOC). The MOC is located at One East 11th Street in the City of Riviera Beach.