Margaritaville at Sea Paradise unveiled at Port of Palm Beach
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The cruise line provided invited guests with an unforgettable 24-hour experience that included a christening ceremony in the Stars on the Water theater and a surprise poolside performance from Jimmy Buffet.
The ship took its maiden voyage Thursday, May 12.
It returned to the Port the following day to continue on board festivities.
Port of Palm Beach Executive Director Manuel Almira, Port of Palm Beach District Board of Commission Vice Chair Dr. Jean Enright and Commissioner Joseph Anderson welcomed Margaritaville at Sea Paradise at a plaque exchange ceremony on board the newly christened cruise ship.
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Book your next cruise
Margaritaville at Sea Paradise set sail Saturday, May 14 for its first passenger sailing from the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island.
“After months of anticipation, it’s exciting to see the transformation of the cruise terminal and the ship,” said Port of Palm Beach District Board of Commission Chairman Blair Ciklin.
Immediately upon embarkation, guests will be transported into a vacation state of mind-greeted by island-inspired music and friendly “Fins Up Crew” team members. Margaritaville at Sea Paradise is 723 feet-long with 658 staterooms that can accommodate 1,650 passengers. The ship offers 11 food and beverage venues, a Broadway-style show written and produced by Jimmy Buffett and Frank Marshall, a St. Somewhere Spa and more.
Read news release
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To mark the occasion, Port Executive Director Manuel Almira, alongside Port of Palm Beach District Board of Commission Vice Chair Dr. Jean Enright and Commissioner Joseph Anderson, presented the ship’s Captain Alex Olesii Norenko, CEO of Margaritaville at Sea Oneil Khosa, the cruise line’s Chief Commercial Officer Francis Riley and CEO of Margaritaville Holdings John Cohlan with a commemorative plaque.
“We are honored to serve as the ships’ home port,” said Port Executive Director Manuel Almira. “Margaritaville at Sea Paradise will bring a positive economic impact to the City of Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County and the State of Florida with its one-of-a-kind cruise experience.”
The Port of Palm Beach is a short five-minute walk to the Riviera Beach Marina Village where cruise passengers can grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant or enjoy several recreational water watersports including paddle boarding, kayaking, parasailing, jet skiing, and more.
The Port’s proximity to the Port of Palm Beach International Airport is just 15 minutes.
Cruise passengers looking to travel further south, can take a quick ride to the West Palm Beach Bright Line Station or the nearby Tri-Rail station in Mangonia Park. Both services provide connectivity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Miami International Airports.
Watch drone video of Margaritaville at sea Paradise arriving at Port |
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Port launches Master Plan project website
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“How can the Port of Palm Beach rethink and set forth the new Port vision to ensure its commercial commitment by 2042?”
This is the central question posed by the Port of Palm Beach and its consultants as it embarks on the strategic Master Plan Update for the Port.
The Port of Palm Beach, along with its consultants Moffatt & Nichol, are developing a new, strategic master plan that will pave the way for the future of the Port.
Through the project website- www.planportofpalmbeach.com- the community can learn more about the project, participate in a short survey on the Port's role in the community, attend the online livestreaming portion of the hybrid public meetings, and sign-up for project email blasts.
The public meetings will be held on:
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 11AM- 1 PM at Maritime Office Complex Board Room located at One East 11th, Suite 600 Street Riviera Beach, FL. 33404.
Thursday, June 2, 2022 6 PM- 8 PM at the Riviera Beach Marina Event Center located at 190 E 13th Street, Riviera Beach, FL. 33404.
The meetings will be broadcast on the project website. Please pre-register if you plan to attend. The meetings will also be recorded and available for viewing on the project website.
Fill out survey starting May 23 |
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Knot Refined sugar barge makes maiden delivery
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There's a new barge in town!
"Knot Refined" docked at the Port of Palm Beach for the first time on May 4.
The 450-foot long bulk barge was built in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. It's the first ocean-going, dry cargo of its size built in the United States since the early 2000s.
“We have relied on third-party barges to transport our raw sugar coastwise since the 1970s,” said Chuck Ferrer, ASR Group’s Sr. Director of Ocean Freight Logistics. “At that time, sugar from Florida Crystals and Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative was sold primarily to trade houses. When the two companies acquired the Yonkers refinery in 1999 then additional refineries in Baltimore and outside New Orleans in 2001, we became fully vertically integrated, but we didn’t control our own domestic freight. We’re excited that now the Knot Refined changes that.”
Approximately 650,000 short tons of that sugar is shipped annually from the Port of Palm Beach to ASR Group’s refineries, through port facilities operated by Florida Sugar & Molasses Exchange, Inc. (FSME). Trucks transport the raw sugar from the Belle Glade and Pahokee mills to FSME’s sugar terminal at the Port, where it is discharged into a 21,000-ton capacity warehouse. Roughly once per week, sugar is loaded onto a barge in a continuous operation at a rate of 700 tons per hour.
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It's expected to make approximately 18 round trips per year from the Port of Palm Beach to the ASR Group's cane sugar refineries in Yonkers, New York and Baltimore, Maryland.
The Knot Refined holds approximately 18,000 short tons of raw sugar.
Wondering who came up with the clever name?
Employees within ASR Group, Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative & Florida Crystals Corporation invited employees to participate in a naming contest. Employees voted on the winning name, which adds a creative, nautical twist on the cargo being transported by the Knot Refined: raw, not refined, sugar.
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Cargo Tonnage Report
Highlights for the month of February 2022:
-Vessel calls increased by 19.2% over the previous year. This is primarily due to the cruise line operating its regular schedule.
-TEUs increased slightly by 2.1% when compared to the same period last year.
-Total railcars have increased by 19% from approximately 6,700 to 8,000.
-Overall total tonnage was flat when compared to the previous year primarily as a result of significant tonnage decreases in sugar shipments.
-Break-bulk is also experiencing a significant increase of almost 18%
- Congratulations to South Florida Materials, Stonerock Shipping, Tropical Shipping, Port Contractors, and Host Agency who are all handling more tonnage.
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Dredging ProjectThe Port dredging project was able to receive authorization from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Florida Wildlife Commission to continue work through May 14, 2022.
This additional time partially made up for lost time due to weather events.
This project has been the largest maintenance dredge project in nearly 15 years. This is the step needed to control shoaling and get the Port on a regularly scheduled annual dredge event and avoid draft restrictions and emergency dredging.
The final dredge volume for this project was nearly 300,000 cubic yards and included significant dredging in all three settling basin area. |
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Global Entry new hours of operation
The Global Entry Office located on the third floor of the Maritime Office Complex is now open seven days a week.
The new hours of operation are as follows:
Appointments: Daily from 12:00 PM- 2:00 PM (Daily, excluding federal holidays)
Walk-ins: 2:00 PM- 3:00 PM (Daily, excluding federal holidays)
Apply for Global Entry here |
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Port of Palm Beach supports county's Bonefish Cove restoration projectDredge material stored in the port’s spoil site on Peanut Island will be used to construct a county restoration project called Bonefish Cove. During April’s Port of Palm Beach District Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, the board unanimously voted to approve an agreement that would allow the county to remove approximately 270,000 yards of excess material from the port’s dredge material management area (DMMA).
“This project is a win-win situation. Palm Beach County will get free material to construct the restoration site and we will have more room to store material for future dredge projects,” said Port of Palm Beach District Board Chairman Blair Ciklin. |
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The Port of Palm Beach is one of the few ports in the country that owns a DMMA.
According to David Carson, Palm Beach County’s Senior Environmental Analyst, the Bonefish Cove Restoration project consists of a series of three mangrove islands, oyster reefs, submerged aquatic vegetation, bird nesting mounds and riprap wave breaks.
Come early next year, the sand in the port’s DMMA will be put on barges and transported down to the project site located half a mile south of the Lake Worth Bridge on the east side of the intracoastal.
“We are appreciative for the local, regional and federal partners who came together to support this project. It’s a partnership between Palm Beach County, the Port of Palm Beach, Town of Palm Beach, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Inland Navigation District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, ” said Carson
Watch WPTV news story |
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Port of Palm Beach receives three safety awards
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The Port of Palm Beach continues to demonstrate its commitment to worker safety.
This year, the Port received three awards from the Palm Beach County Safety Council. During the award luncheon, Director of Security Rick Placeres and Facilities Superintendent Al Fawcett along with their employees, received two excellence awards for worker and vehicle safety.
South Florida Materials employee Oscar Garcia and Port Security Sergeant Jeff Farr accepted a Heroism award on behalf of Security Officer Dunstan Rainford. The two were recognized for facilitating a safe rescue of a woman who was hanging on to one of the manatee fenders in slip 3 last June. Oscar and Dunstan used a rope to pull the woman out of the water. |
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 Tropical Shipping employees accept award from the Palm Beach County Safety Council.
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Port tenants Tropical Shipping and South Florida Materials were also recognized at the safety luncheon.
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 South Florida Materials employees receive award from the Palm Beach County Safety Council.
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Gulfstream Line/ Heavy Lift Services receive communications award
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During the last Tenant Coffee, Port of Palm Beach staff presented Glen, Tina, and Joey Dias with Heavy Lift Services/ Gulfstream Line, with an American Association of Port Authorities Communication award for their efforts in a Port produced video called Tenant Spotlight: Three Generations at Heavy Lift Services.
Watch Tenant Spotlight
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Business Opportunities
Request for Proposals for Networking Consulting Services
View bid documents
For more information contact Director of Information Systems
Richard Laird at rlaird@portofpalmbeach.com |
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Palm Beach County Emergency Management Director tours Port
As hurricane season approaches, Port staff thought it would be a good idea to invite Palm Beach County Emergency Management Director Mary Blakeney to the Port of Palm Beach. Blakeney meet with several staff members including Port Executive Director Manuel Almira, Director of Security Rick Placeres and Director of Operations Michael Meekins.
Director of Planning and Development Carl Baker and Public Information Officer Yaremi Farinas gave Blakeney a tour of the Port and explained how the Port and its tenants prepare for a storm.
View Palm Beach County's Hurricane Plan
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Hurricane season is just days away
It's that time of year. Hurricane season starts June 1st.
The first available storm name this season is Alex. Forecasters do not expect to see activity within the first few days of hurricane season, but this is the perfect time to ensure you are prepared for a storm.
We have published the Hurricane Plan on the Port's website.
This year we’ve decided we are going to provide Port updates both through email and by phone. We created an information line that you can call at any time and hear the current status of the port, when we expect to open, who can return and any other critical information you may need.
The hurricane information line is 561-383-4144.
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Working moms at the Port of Palm Beach are still feeling the love.
CEMEX employee Anthony gave his mother, Port Security Officer Stephanie King, a gift bag with Yankee candles from the Cemex team for being the “Mother” of the terminal. "She has helped us tremendously throughout the startup process and has gone above and beyond to make sure we have the correct information we need to be safe and ensure operations are running smoothly," said Cemex Terminal Manager Matt Horne.
The CEMEX team thanks her for her service to the Port and extended service to Cemex.
"She raised a pretty great, hardworking son as well, which we are also thankful for," Horne said. |
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May Port Employees Work Anniversaries
Congratulations to the following employees who are celebrating a work anniversary:
Special Projects Manager Aaron Hoffman- 17 years
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Upcoming Commission MeetingsYou're invited to attend our Board of Commissioners meetings. - June 16 at 4 PM
- July 21 at 4 PM
- August 18 at 4 PM
The public is welcome to attend the in-person board meetings held in our Board Room located on the 6th Floor of the Maritime Office Complex at One East 11th St Riviera Beach, FL. View agendas and minutes |
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Listen to Board Meetings onlineDid you miss the last Regular Port of Palm Beach District Board of Commissioners Meeting?
The audio recording of the last meeting is now available on the Port's website.
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Check out our YouTube channel
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