“Port Tampa Bay takes our role in serving the critical infrastructure needs of our community seriously. In addition to providing nearly half of the state’s fuel, we are Florida’s largest and most diverse port. Most people do not realize the impact seaports play in their daily lives, but we prepare year-long for a variety of crises to ensure the flow of goods continues through our port at all times,” explained Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay President & CEO.
The United States is a world leader in energy and Florida’s market is critical. Hurricane season highlights the importance of our port in keeping residents safe before, during, and after a storm and other disasters, including COVID-19.
Our port has maintained a laser focus on resiliency, which includes:
- A plan for storage and transmission of fuel during a natural, or man-made disaster
- An annual hurricane exercise, working with several emergency response organizations and our port community
- Hardened facilities and buildings and buried power lines at terminals
Additionally, Port Tampa Bay has had a robust cybersecurity focus. Our staff takes part in continual training and our port promotes awareness of appropriate safety measures and ongoing cyber threats. Senior staff takes part in cybersecurity groups at the federal, state, local and industry levels. A major focus of these organizations is preventing attacks, like the one involving the Colonial Pipeline. Staff at all levels of our organizations are trained on cybersecurity and understand the role they play in reducing our organization’s risk of attacks.
Resiliency is something we take very seriously at Port Tampa Bay, because of our significant economic impact and status as critical infrastructure. We encourage our community to act responsibly as our fellow Americans are more directly impacted by the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.