The Port of St. Petersburg is a port located near downtown

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. The Port of St. Petersburg is used by the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

under Sector St. Petersburg and serves a super yacht facility.

History

The Port of St. Petersburg opened in 1925 in anticipation of becoming a major shipping port. In the beginning, the port was used mainly for the use of the

from 1927 up until it was abandoned in 1933, although the base was reopened in 1939 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following World War II, the port was used as a

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

for ships. In 1977, the interest for turning the St. Petersburg port into a cruise port was rumored among the city. However, shortly after problems arose when the depth of the port was revealed to be shallower than most ports such as the

Port Tampa Bay Port Tampa Bay, known as the Port of Tampa until January 2014, is the largest port in the state of Florida and is overseen by the Tampa Port Authority, a Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County agency. The port is located in Tampa, Flori ...

and

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...

the city attempted regardless to get a cruise line tenant. In 1987 the city finally got a cruise line by the name of Scandinavian World Cruises that offered their ship the

Scandinavian Star MS ''Scandinavian Star'', originally named MS ''Massalia'', was a car and passenger ferry built in France in 1971. The ship was set on fire on April 7, 1990, killing 159 people. The official investigation determined the fire had been caused by a ...

to the port where it stayed until 1991. Following in 1993, another cruise line from Ukraine took up the spot, however like the Scandinavian cruise before the Ukraine cruise liner didn't stay extensively. Since the absence of a cruise liner, the Port of St. Petersburg has been struggling to get commercial usage.

Future port plans

Although the port's commercial use has been declining throughout the years, dreams of the port expanding its use for cruise ships, yacht repairs, markets, a marine research hub, and a relocation port has been suggested by members of St. Petersburg government and port owners.

Downtown Waterfront Master Plan

The Port of St. Petersburg is a part of the Bayboro District in the cities Downtown Waterfront Master Plan. The plan for the district is to add pedestrian areas, more park spaces around the district, and development sits for future use. The plan for the port also calls for deeper water wharf's, pier structures, and new peninsulas such as Port Discovery.

Port Discovery

The port also has been working on a partnership with the St. Pete Ocean Team to carry out a plan called 'Port Discovery' for marine education, research, and science on the St. Pete Port. The 'Port Discovery' plan would allow the Port Terminal Building to be open for the public and would mainly focus on local schools visits.

References

{{Reflist St. Petersburg, Florida Port cities and towns of the Florida Gulf coast Transportation in St. Petersburg, Florida Tampa, Port of