Freight News, Sea

Port Canaveral’s Results Rely on All Segments

[ November 7, 2025   //   Gary Burrows ]

Canaveral Port Authority CEO Capt. John Murray in his annual state of the port address, detailed how all segments of operations – cruise, cargo, recreation, real estate, commercial fishing and aerospace – contributed to the Central Florida port’s performance.

Revenue for fiscal year 2025 reached US$218 million, with US$182 million coming from the port’s cruise business. Cargo raised US$25 million and non-ship operations were US$211 million.

“Our business growth and solid financial performance is building value that will pay dividends for years to come,” said Murray, before an audience of 250 business and community leaders Nov. 6 at Port Canaveral’s Cruise Terminal 210.

Cargo business reached 6.1 million tons in fiscal 2025, including 3 million tons of petroleum products, two million tons of aggregates and 850,000 tons of forest products.

A new mobile harbor crane arrived in August with lift capabilities that the port said complement the two mobile harbor cranes currently deployed, effectively tripling the port’s cargo handling capacity.

The port’s cruise terminals hosted 1,038 ship calls and a record 8.6 million multi-day passenger movements, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. In April 2025, the port reached a historic milestone of 100 million passenger movements since the Scandinavian Sea began sailing in 1982 from its Port Canaveral home.

For the Central Florida region, 27 percent of cruise passengers overnight in a local hotel, which equates to 2.3 million total Brevard County room nights annually, and tripling hotel construction in the nearby city of Cape Canaveral in the past decade.

Looking forward, the port expects another robust year with US$237.4 million projected revenue for fiscal 2026 with cruise business growing to 18 homeported ships generating 9 million multi-day passenger movements across 1,083 ship calls.

Planned renovation and improvement projects in the new fiscal year total US$255 million. The port’s five-year capital improvement plan now stands at US$912 million, up from just over US$500 million less than two years ago.

Cruise projects include creating 4,500 additional parking spaces in new terminal garages and surface lots and nearly doubling the size of the Port’s Cruise Terminals 5 and 10 to accommodate the arrival of new home-porting vessels in 2027.

Completing North Cargo Berth 4 renovations and the clearing of adjacent upland parcels will open access to cargo development opportunities. Planned improvements to public boating, camping and beach facilities will enhance the port’s recreational facilities that attract 400,000 visitors a year.

The state of the port presentation is available at https://tinyurl.com/39nxtuft.

Tags: Canaveral Port Authority