{"id":122198,"date":"2026-01-17T19:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T19:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/122198\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T19:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T19:19:09","slug":"company-pitches-proposal-for-major-new-cruise-port-near-tampa-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/122198\/","title":{"rendered":"Company Pitches Proposal for Major New Cruise Port Near Tampa Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.com\/bio\/travelpulse-staff\" title=\"TravelPulse Staff\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TravelPulse-Staff.jpg\" alt=\"TravelPulse Staff\" title=\"TravelPulse Staff\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"author-image w-80 w-48\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cruise company SSA Marine, along with holding company Slip Knott LLC, has unveiled plans\u2014and a <a href=\"https:\/\/knottcowencruise.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">website promoting<\/a> the plans\u2014for a new cruise port in Manatee County, just south of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.com\/gallery\/agents\/learn-about-tampa-bay-and-sell-the-destination-as-an-expert\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay<\/a> area and near Bradenton. <\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysuncoast.com\/2026\/01\/16\/proposal-unveiled-build-port-mega-sized-cruise-ships-manatee-county\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> that the port would be built on roughly 300 acres of land known as the Knott-Cowen tract, on the seaward side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. This area is environmentally sensitive, but the company said the port is needed to accommodate the newer mega-sized <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpulse.com\/news\/cruise\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cruise<\/a> ships that cannot sail under the Skyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur new port will complement existing cruise activities in the region by being able to service the newer, larger, low-emissions cruise vessels that would otherwise be unable to visit due to the height restrictions of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. With cruise ships continuing to modernize, the region will be well positioned to align with and support the cruise industry\u2019s future growth,\u201d said the company.<\/p>\n<p>The company also acknowledged the environmental issues, noting that \u201ccentral to this project is our commitment to environmental stewardship.\u201d SSA Marine said that it recently acquired the adjacent 710-acre Rattlesnake Key, which it described as a treasured local community asset that has long been the subject of concern regarding potential future commercial development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur intent in purchasing the property is to remove any possibility of private commercialization and ensure its conservation. We look forward to working\u00a0closely with local officials, residents, and environmental leaders in the months ahead to discuss how best to preserve the natural character of this special property,\u201d the website explained.<\/p>\n<p>For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the <a href=\"https:\/\/signup.travelpulse.com\/general-registration\/\" title=\"Daily TravelPulse newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">daily TravelPulse newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>    &#13;<br \/>\n        Topics From This Article to Explore&#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cruise company SSA Marine, along with holding company Slip Knott LLC, has unveiled plans\u2014and a website promoting the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1623,17573,10261,25502,28,17574,115,3445,17575,135,137,136,17572,30381,4571],"class_list":["post-122198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-apple-news","tag-bing-news","tag-cruise","tag-destinations","tag-florida","tag-msn","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-smartnews","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-travelpulse-us","tag-tronc","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}