A proposed privately financed cruise port in Manatee County is now publicly tied to the recent sale of Rattlesnake Key, a shallow island system between Tampa and Terra Ceia bays.
SSA Marine, a Seattle-based global port and marine terminal operator, recently launched a website outlining plans to explore development of a multi-berth cruise terminal on the Knott-Cowen tract immediately south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on the Manatee County side.
According to the website, the location is being considered to accommodate larger, modern cruise ships that cannot pass beneath the Skyway span.
SSA Marine cruise division president Stefano Borzone, in an opinion piece posted Jan. 16 at bradenton.com, said the project is intended to balance growth in the cruise industry with environmental protection.
“West Central Florida has long been a gateway to the world for commerce, tourism, and the communities that depend on both,” Borzone wrote.
He said SSA Marine recently acquired the Rattlesnake Key property through its subsidiary, Rattlesnake Key Preservation Co., citing conservation as the purpose of the purchase.
“Our intent in purchasing the property is to remove any possibility of private commercialization and ensure its conservation,” Borzone wrote in the opinion piece. “There will be no commercial development or construction on Rattlesnake Key.”
He estimated construction of the proposed port at the Knott-Cowen tract and related activity would boost labor earnings by about $1.6 billion.
Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court records show Rattlesnake Key and the surrounding submerged lands were conveyed Oct. 30, 2025, for $18 million in a special warranty deed that includes public-trust exceptions that preserve access to navigable waters.
On the project website, knottcowencruise.com, developers describe the cruise terminal as privately financed and estimate it would support more than 13,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs and generate about $40 million annually in tax revenue for Manatee County and the School District of Manatee. Those figures have not been independently verified.
County Commission Chair Tal Siddique, R-District 3, told The Islander Jan. 16 that his first exposure to the port proposal came from reporters seeking comment.
He said the proposal remained conceptual and that as of Jan. 16 no development applications related to a cruise terminal or the Knott-Cowen tract were submitted to the county.
“Our staff, to my knowledge, don’t have any application today for any kind of redevelopment, so we’re kind of learning in real time,” Siddique said.
He said the county’s land development code and comprehensive plan might not specifically anticipate a new cruise terminal.
“There’s a lot of unknowns right now,” he said.
Siddique also said a project of the scale proposed would likely involve state and federal agency reviews.
“You don’t really see ports pop up every day,” Siddique said. “These are more like once-in-a-generation type efforts.”
According to the project website, the proposal remains in the early planning phase and would be subject to zoning changes and other local, state and federal approvals.
Developers say public engagement would include hearings before the county planning commission and the county board of commissioners, along with environmental reviews and opportunities for public input.
Efforts by Manatee County and the state to acquire Rattlesnake Key for a public preserve collapsed in 2023 after a gap developed between state-certified appraisals and the owner’s asking price.
Legislative appropriations aimed at securing the property were redirected after the deal failed.
Rattlesnake Key remains one of the most intact natural landscapes at the mouth of Tampa Bay, supporting expansive mangrove forests, fish nursery habitats, bird rookeries and shallow-water wetlands. As the port proposal moves toward potential review, regulatory and policy decisions could shape its future.
For more information
For more about the proposed Knott-Cowen Cruise Port concept, go to knottcowencruise.com.
The site contains information from SSA Marine about “exploring the development of a modern cruise port in Manatee County, adjacent to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.”
The site also contains FAQs about the concept, including “what is this project and where will it be located?”
The site also speaks to the approval process, local impact, environmental matters and the reasons for purchasing Rattlesnake Key.
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