Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Just south of Interstate 275 in a pocket of the Tampa Bay is an island that may be home to a new cruise port, but locals worry about the environmental impact of such a project, according to The Miami Herald.
The area is being eyed for a terminal by two companies — SSA Marine and Slip Knott LLC — for megaships that cannot pass under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The bridge maintains a clearance of about 193 feet for ships, despite being raised by about 50% to accommodate larger vessels in 1987, and still presents a limitation for megaships trying to pass through the area.
Currently, the island serves as a natural habitat for a multitude of native species and is known as “Paradise Island” to locals and nature enthusiasts, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. “As a conservation tradeoff” ahead of their plans to develop the Knott-Cowen Tract into a cruise port hub, the companies have proposed the preservation of Rattlesnake Key — a largely undeveloped 830-acre island that sold last year for $18 million. SSA Marine is the current owner of Rattlesnake Key.
