Port Canaveral Community News July 2015

JULY 2015: Port Master Plan Integral to Future Decisions | Community Celebrates Captain Ed Lanni's 90th Birthday | New Pilot Boat Modernizes Fleet | Students Explore Career Opportunities at Port Canaveral | Port Authority Welcomes Summer Interns | FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS

Port Master Plan Integral to Future Decisions

The far-reaching initiative to develop a new master plan for the Port has begun with the hiring of consultant Matt Taylor, a senior principal of C&S Engineers, as coordinator and advisor to the Port Authority in the process. "It's a huge privilege to be involved," said Taylor. "This is the first time the Port has prepared a true, comprehensive master plan based solidly upon forecasts for success and including input from all its stakeholders."

The goal of the plan will be to expedite and optimize mid-range and long-range decisions by providing a flexible framework of guidance. Further, we want to balance the Port's responsibility to serve the global marketplace as a logistics and cruise hub and its responsibility to serve the local community with access and recreation. In upcoming months, the Port Authority will solicit and contract with a firm to generate the plan. This selection procedure should be complete by summer, after which the planning process is expected to last up to two years. A series of public workshops, as well as on-going online tools, will be used to involve the community.

Port and Community Celebrate
Captain Ed Lanni's 90th Birthday

The Canaveral Port Authority celebrated the 90th birthday of Ambassador Emeritus Captain Ed Lanni with a resolution designating Captain Ed Lanni Day. The 56-year career mariner first became a Port ambassador in 2007. His first visit to Port Canaveral was in 1950 aboard the LST-694. He served as Captain of the Range Sentinel based in Port Canaveral in 1983.

New Pilot Boat Modernizes Fleet

Canaveral Pilots Association has a new $820,000 pilot boat, replacing a 1991 model, with the expectation it will make the often harrowing trip to offshore vessels a little smoother
for operators.

It's the pilot boat operators that maneuver the comparatively tiny vessels alongside gigantic cruise and cargo ships to line up for the pilot's jump onto a ladder rope three feet off the water.

"We communicate to the ship and meet them at the pilot station about six or seven miles out. We'll have them slow down to six to eight knots for a boarding speed. The pilot boat comes alongside cruise and cargo ships, then pins the boat against the ladder for the pilot to grab the ladder and climb up,'' explains Doug Mutter, business director of the Canaveral Pilots Association.

The 45-foot aluminum inboard boat features a raised bridge and a single-screw 650-hp John Deere engine capable of about 25 knots, even in rough seas. It draws about six-and-a-half feet of draft.

Students Explore Career Opportunities at Port

On May 26, the Port Authority hosted a Career Day for students from Jackson Middle School in Titusville, FL who participate in J.U.M.P. - Jackson's Ultimate Mentoring Program. The 23 students attended with their adult mentors and school administrators. During their tour, they learned about career opportunities with the Port, its support agencies and tenants. The day included visits to Exploration Tower, Wild Oceans Seafood, Parker Brothers Concepts, and a pilot boat tour. During lunch at Jetty Park, students participated in small-group sessions with Port staff, Propeller Club members and community representatives from a variety of professions and career backgrounds. They introduced the students to a wide range of potential careers and discussed the training and skills needed for jobs in those fields. Commission Chairman Jerry Allender and CEO John Walsh addressed the students, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and never give up.

The six-year-old J.U.M.P. program was created to provide students with the one-on-one positive attention of an adult mentor. This year, six Port staff members and a Port contractor and U.S. Coast Guard Captain volunteered their time to go to the middle school once a week to meet with mentees.

"The Port has been amazing," said Jackson Principal Annetha Jones. "Their partnership and staff volunteers helped us have our best year ever with this program."

Port Authority Welcomes Summer Interns

Three college students will spend this summer working with Canaveral Port Authority as interns in Cargo Business Development, Environmental Plans & Programs, and Engineering.

From June 6 until August 8, the students will support the day-to-day activities of operating Port Canaveral, the world's second busiest cruise port and central Florida's marine gateway into the global marketplace.

The interns are: Kaitlin Badgett of Cocoa, a senior majoring in Biology with an emphasis in Coastal Environmental Science at the University of North Florida; Danielle Leahy of Cocoa Beach, a junior majoring in International Transportation and Trade at the University of New York Maritime College; and Alexis Miller, a recent graduate of Florida Institute of Technology with a degree in Civil Engineering.

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