Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project (PENIP)

Port Everglades is one of the preeminent ports in the Western Hemisphere. At the crossroads of north-south and east-west trade, Broward County's Port Everglades is Florida's leading container port, handling more than one million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units, the industry standard measurement for container volumes) and serving as a gateway to Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. It is also one of the busiest cruise ports in the entire world, and South Florida’s main seaport for receiving petroleum products such as gasoline and jet fuel. The port is responsible annually for $34 billion in economic activity and 231,579 jobs in the state of Florida are impacted by the port. The port itself is responsible for 13,127 direct jobs.

Port Everglades currently handles Post-Panamax ships from Europe and South America, but the ships must be lightly loaded, which is inefficient, especially as older fleets are being replaced with much larger ships which can carry more cargo in less time. The demand for commodities is very high as Port Everglades is in the heart of one of the world's largest consumer regions, including a constant flow of 113 million seasonal visitors within a 500-mile radius. Port Everglades needs deeper and wider channels so today's modern ship fleet can arrive here with full loads, safely. If we do not modernize, cargo ships will pass by Port Everglades taking with them thousands of new jobs and millions in economic impact each year.