A company that describes itself as the “leading cruise terminal operator in North America” is working with a Tampa-based holding company to explore building a new cruise port in Manatee County at the mouth of Tampa Bay next to the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, according to a new website promoting the idea.

The cruise company, SSA Marine, said it is working with Tampa-based Slip Knott LLC on the privately financed, multi-berth cruise port that would be built on a roughly 328-acre coastal property known as the Knott-Cowen tract, according to the company’s proposal. If approved, construction would take approximately three to five years.

Based on property appraisal records, the coastal land owned by Slip Knott LLC appears to be near the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, considered one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the Tampa Bay estuary.

SSA Marine says the new port is necessary to accommodate newer, larger ships that can’t fit under the Skyway Bridge, according to its website. A new port “will bring additional tourism to West Central Florida,” the company said.

The new port project is in the early planning phase and will have to go through zoning and other permitting steps, including public hearings with the Manatee County Planning Commission and the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, according to the company.

“Initial work has already begun to identify and evaluate potential considerations, including traffic, noise, environmental impacts, and public access,” the company writes on its website. “These topics will be addressed in greater detail as part of the approval process, and opportunities for public input will be provided before any final decisions are made.”

The idea is likely to spark pushback from clean-water and environmental advocates in the Tampa Bay region.

“Bringing in a large-scale industrial facility … would certainly raise concerns for our water quality, critical habitat for fish and wildlife, and the recreational value for residents and tourists in the Tampa Bay community that depend on a healthy estuary,” Peter Clark, president and founder of the restoration nonprofit Tampa Bay Watch, told the Tampa Bay Times Friday morning.

As part of the proposal, SSA Marine said its subsidiary, the Rattlesnake Key Preservation Company, recently bought the nearby, 710-acre Rattlesnake Key property for conservation.

SSA Marine, which by its estimate serves 25 million cruise passengers annually, has deep ties to Florida and oversees existing operations at ports including at Port Tampa Bay, PortMiami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral, according to the company. Port Tampa Bay did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Stefano Borzone, president of SSA Marine’s cruise division, says a new port would be an economic driver in the Tampa Bay region, adding, by the company’s estimate, 31,000 jobs.

“Throughout this project, we are committed to transparently working through the public process and welcome the opportunity to engage local residents in meaningful dialogue and work collaboratively with the community to ensure this effort reflects West Central Florida’s needs and creates sustained, long-term public benefit,” Borzone wrote in a guest column published in the Bradenton Herald on Friday.

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program, which has long supported the protection of Rattlesnake Key and its nearby habitats, said the area where the port would be built is one of the most ecologically rich and diverse parts of Tampa Bay, from its coastal wetlands to its lush seagrass meadows and vibrant hard-bottom habitats.

“For a proposal like what was floated today, protecting what already exists wouldn’t be nearly enough. There would need to be significant additional habitat creation to come close to offsetting such a loss,” said Maya Burke, assistant director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

This isn’t the first time the region has been faced with the prospect of a new cruise terminal, Burke noted and the Times has previously reported. A Florida Department of Transportation study from a decade ago looked at the future of the cruise industry in Tampa Bay, and whether it would be worth it to expand operations in coming years.

The industry here is booming, with more than 1.6 million passengers coming to Port Tampa Bay last year, Burke said.

“This is thanks in large part to Port Tampa Bay’s vision to focus on smaller, boutique cruise ships,” she said.

“The idea that we have to trade environmental quality for economic growth is one that our region has proven wrong time and time again.”

This is a breaking story. Check back for more updates.

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