Port of Fernandina Gets $11 Million Federal Grant to Fight Flooding and Repair Docks, Sen. Ashley Moody Says

The Port of Fernandina on Amelia Island will receive $11 million in federal Port Infrastructure Development Program money to fight chronic flooding and repair aging dock structures, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody announced this week, saying she pressed the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration to fund the Nassau County port's request. The grant targets drainage, storm surge and rainfall pumps, crane rail repairs and structural rehabilitation at a small deepwater port that local officials call vital to Northeast Florida's economy.

What the grant pays for

According to First Coast News, which reported the award Tuesday, Oct. 27, the money addresses four problems at the port: extreme chronic flooding, structural deterioration, limits on cargo handling and employee safety standards. The planned work includes:

• Drainage improvements and water capture infrastructure
• Pumps to handle storm surge and heavy rainfall
• Repairs to the rail that the port's cranes run on
• Deck patching, beam reinforcement and pile repairs
• Cathodic protection, which slows corrosion of steel in seawater, and other structural upgrades

The total cost of the project and the size of any local match were not included in the announcement. The Fernandina Observer previously reported that the Ocean Highway and Port Authority, the Nassau County agency that oversees the port, approved a federal grant application seeking $11.25 million from the program.

Moody's role

Moody, a Republican, said she supported the Ocean Highway and Port Authority's funding request and, in June, sent a letter to Maritime Administration Administrator Capt. Stephen Carmel outlining the port's concerns. She also recently called on the Department of Transportation to fund the request, according to First Coast News.

In announcing the award, Moody said the investment will protect the port's infrastructure and strengthen supply chain reliability, and called the port "an important economic engine for Northeast Florida." U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, the Fernandina Beach Republican whose district includes Nassau County, described the port as a "small but mighty, strategically vital, and irreplaceable asset."

Moody was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 to fill the seat Marco Rubio vacated to become secretary of state. She is on the ballot in the Nov. 3 special election for the remainder of that term.

A small port with an outsized role

The Port of Fernandina sits on the Amelia River on the western side of Amelia Island, near Florida's border with Georgia. It is owned by Nassau County and overseen by the Ocean Highway and Port Authority, and it has three berths and a 36-foot draft, according to its Wikipedia entry. Day-to-day terminal operations were managed by Worldwide Terminals Fernandina, according to 2020 Action News Jax reporting.

The port handles pulp and paper, steel exports, machinery, auto parts, chemicals, beverages, building materials and food products, with container service to Caribbean and Latin American destinations including Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Aruba, Curacao and Bermuda.

The waterfront has been a working harbor for centuries. Spain fortified it with Fort San Carlos, U.S. gunboats seized it in 1812, and the town later became the eastern terminus of David Levy Yulee's Florida Railroad. Today the port operates a short distance from Fernandina Beach's historic downtown, and some residents have objected to past port grant applications, prompting the Fernandina Beach City Commission in 2021 to rescind its letters of support for two of them.

Why flooding is the priority

Low-lying port terminals along Florida's coast face both king tides and hurricane storm surge, and Fernandina's own resilience planning has focused on preventing repeated flooding of its terminal. The grant's emphasis on pumps and drainage reflects that, as does the structural work on decks, beams and piles that sit in salt water.

The award comes near the end of a hurricane season in which the state has seen storm impacts in the Panhandle, and as Florida ports increasingly use federal grants for hardening projects. Port Everglades in Broward County received about $30.75 million in the same federal round to harden its liquid bulk terminal, widen a slip for larger ships and improve resilience for fuel operations during severe weather, according to trade press reports.

The federal program behind the money

The Port Infrastructure Development Program, run by the Maritime Administration, awards competitive grants to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of moving goods into, out of and within ports. Its fiscal 2026 funding opportunity made about $488.6 million available, and the program typically covers up to 80% of a project's cost, according to the federal notice and trade publications.

This year's awards total roughly $498 million across 35 port projects, according to maritime trade publications including Baird Maritime. Those outlets reported the round is the final installment of the $2.25 billion the 2021 federal infrastructure law committed to the program for 2022 through 2026. The American Association of Port Authorities has urged Congress to provide new appropriations to keep the program going, according to trade press coverage.

Fernandina has competed for Maritime Administration money before. After the Department of Transportation designated the port part of America's Marine Highway system in 2019, it won a roughly $1.3 million grant for cargo handling equipment tied to its Fernandina Express barge service to the Port of Charleston, Action News Jax reported at the time. The state has also invested: Worldwide Terminals has said a port crane was paid for with a $2 million grant authorized by the Florida Legislature, the kind of equipment that depends on the crane rail the new federal money will repair.

What it means for Nassau County

For a port of Fernandina's size, an $11 million award is a significant investment in the existing terminal rather than an expansion. The planned work focuses on keeping current operations running: draining water off the terminal, keeping cranes on sound rails and shoring up the structures ships tie up to. Moody and Bean both framed the port as an employer and supply chain link for Northeast Florida, a region that also includes JAXPORT in Jacksonville to the south.

What's next

Federal port grants are typically finalized through an agreement between the Maritime Administration and the recipient before construction money is released, and the Ocean Highway and Port Authority will need to approve contracts for the work. No construction timeline was included in the announcement.