Port Miami

Cargo traffic at Florida’s 16 seaports is slightly ahead of pre-pandemic numbers, while the cruise industry is expected to return to pre-pandemic passenger counts this year.

Port Tampa Bay, PortMiami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, and Port of Jacksonville collectively recorded 6.1 million cruise passengers in 2021.

The cruise company would not confirm how many people tested positive for COVID but said there were a number of positive cases on the Carnival Spirit.

House Appropriations Chairman Jay Trumbull also wants them to urge their local representatives to push for infrastructure money so Florida doesn’t “lose out” to ports in Alabama and Georgia.

Just as cruising out of Florida's ports restarts, the state leads the nation in COVID-19 cases, causing concerns that ships will be docked once again.

But the recovery is expected to take longer for the multibillion-dollar passenger cruise industry.

The wider Panama Canal opened two weeks ago – servicing more massive post-Panamax ships. On Saturday PortMiami received its first vessel of that kind...