Port of Jacksonville (JAXPORT) Guide

JAXPORT is the Jacksonville Port Authority, an international trade seaport that owns, maintains and markets three cargo terminals, two intermodal container transfer facilities and a cruise terminal along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville (About JAXPORT).

An unpaid seven-member Board of Directors provides policy guidance: the Mayor of Jacksonville appoints four members and the Governor of Florida appoints three, each for a four-year term with one possible reappointment (JAXPORT board). The full board meets every month in public session, and board members can be reached at (904) 357-3036. Soo Gilvarry, appointed to the board in March 2023, is chair, and Tom Slater is vice chair; the other officers listed are Patrick Kilbane (treasurer), Charles F. Spencer (secretary) and J. Palmer Clarkson (immediate past chair), with Wendy Hamilton and Daniel Bean as members. Eric Green is Chief Executive Officer and gave the 2026 State of the Port address on February 26, 2026 (JAXPORT).

The Florida Legislature created the Jacksonville Port Authority in 1963, when the City handed over the Talleyrand Municipal Docks and Goat Island, later renamed Blount Island (JAXPORT timeline). In its 2001 session the Legislature enacted Chapter 2001-319, Laws of Florida, which split the old authority in two: the airports went to a new aviation authority, and the seaport became the Jacksonville Seaport Authority, still doing business as JAXPORT. JAXPORT headquarters is at 2831 Talleyrand Ave., with the cargo line at (904) 357-3000.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the JAXPORT website.

JAXPORT lists cargo terminals at Blount Island, Dames Point and Talleyrand, and the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal shares the 9810 August Drive address with the Dames Point auto terminal (JAXPORT).

SSA Marine finished a $72 million modernization of the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal there in 2025, delivering 97 acres of upgraded container yard and raising annual capacity to nearly 650,000 TEUs (JAXPORT timeline). In 2026 Southeast Toyota Distributors dedicated a Blount Island vehicle processing facility that can handle about 4,000 vehicles per week and supports more than 400 full-time jobs. Dames Point is the third marine terminal: the authority acquired the final property for it in 1998 and owns nearly 600 acres there in northeast Jacksonville, where plans call for potentially leaving more than a third of the land in its natural state to protect wetlands.

Jacksonville cruise ships do not sail from Talleyrand: the cruise terminal is in North Jacksonville at 9810 August Drive, reached from Heckscher Drive (JAXPORT cruise parking). The Jacksonville logistics and distribution guide covers the warehouses that grew up around these terminals.

In fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), JAXPORT handled 1,388,841 container TEUs, 506,237 vehicles and 10,230,114 tons of cargo across 1,611 vessel calls (JAXPORT statistics).

The five-year table shows Jacksonville container volume recovering after a dip in FY2022, while vehicle counts settled near 506,000 after FY2021's 616,215. JAXPORT describes itself as Florida's No. 1 container port by volume and one of the nation's top vehicle-handling ports, with a 47-foot deepwater channel and two-way ship traffic (JAXPORT). Containerized cargo made up 6,571,779 of the FY2025 tons, and automobiles 1,204,437 tons (JAXPORT statistics). Breakbulk rose to 975,928 tons in FY2025 from 807,714 the year before, while dry and liquid bulk fell to 1,486,514 tons from 1,949,810, a reminder that the Jacksonville port is a mixed-cargo harbor rather than a container-only one. Vessel calls climbed every year but one in the period, from 1,521 in FY2021 to 1,611 in FY2025.

A reading tip for the JAXPORT statistics page: its monthly table is labeled both FY26 year-to-date and FY 2025, so the annual five-year rows are the clearer figures to quote.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the Jacksonville Harbor channel at 47 feet mean lower low water from the ocean entrance to the Dames Point terminals at River Mile 13, then 40 feet through about River Mile 20 (USACE Jacksonville District).

Cuts F and G of the West Blount Island Channel are maintained at 34 feet, and the Corps keeps two dredge material management areas at Bartram and Buck Islands (USACE). How the channel reached 47 feet is the subject of the Jacksonville JAXPORT harbor deepening guide; this guide covers what the port does with it.

The next change is overhead rather than underwater. At the February 2026 State of the Port, JAXPORT said work to raise the air draft to an operational clearance of 205 feet, so more vessels can reach the 47-foot harbor, remains on track for completion by the end of 2026 (JAXPORT). The same address cited the completed $250 million modernization of container and auto handling at Blount Island. On the docks, three new Liebherr ship-to-shore container cranes entered service in 2026 under a $93 million fleet program, two at Blount Island and one at Talleyrand (JAXPORT timeline).

Carnival Cruise Line sails year-round from Jacksonville on four- and five-day Bahamas cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line offers seasonal Bahamas service, both from the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal at 9810 August Drive (JAXPORT cruise FAQ).

JAXPORT approved a three-year agreement for Norwegian Cruise Line service beginning in November 2025, with Norwegian homeporting from November to April each year through 2028 (JAXPORT timeline). The two JAXPORT pages differ on destinations: the timeline says Norwegian offers seasonal cruises to The Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, while the cruise FAQ lists The Bahamas only. Jacksonville cruise traffic in FY2025 came to 79 ship calls and 200,548 embarking passengers, against 80 calls and 206,720 passengers in FY2024 (JAXPORT statistics).

Parking at the Jacksonville cruise terminal costs $17 per day for a passenger vehicle, which works out to $68 for a 4-day cruise and $85 for a 5-day cruise, tax included; oversized vehicles pay $34 per day (JAXPORT parking). No reservation is needed, but the lot takes credit cards only, no cash. Drivers reach the terminal from Heckscher Drive (FL 105) and turn onto August Drive, and terminal questions go to (904) 357-3006.

A Martin Associates study of 2024 activity, published by JAXPORT, counted 30,764 port-dependent jobs in the Jacksonville area and more than 258,800 jobs and $44 billion in annual economic output statewide tied to JAXPORT cargo (JAXPORT economic impact).

Port-dependent jobs paid an average of $76,706 a year, compared with a Florida average of $60,210 for all occupations (JAXPORT). These are figures JAXPORT publishes about its own activity; the Jacksonville major employers guide covers other large employers in the city.

Federal clearance of cargo and vessels runs through U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Area Port of Jacksonville, port code 1803, at 10426 Alta Drive off New Berlin Road (CBP). The office answers at 904-714-3100 and keeps hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, closed on weekends, with separate extensions for trade and cargo, agriculture, and vessel entrance and clearance.