Seattle-based SSA Marine’s proposal ‘would ruin this island,’ says one resident.
By Brice Claypoole
Original Air Date: January 21, 2026
Host: If it is built, it would be one of the region’s largest infrastructure projects in years: A cruise terminal at the foot of the Sunshine Skyway. The next generation of cruise ships is getting so big they don’t fit under the bridge anymore. That means they can’t make it to the Tampa cruise port, and a port developer wants to seize the opportunity at Tampa Bay. WSLR News reporter Brice Claypoole gathered a first round of local reactions to the big plans.
Brice Claypoole: Looking out at Miguel Bay at dusk, the sky was bruised pale pink. Two fishing boats were stopped at the tiny landmass locals call Paradise Island. A heron waded in the shallow water, and dolphins breached the surface out into Tampa Bay. This is a key part of the rich estuary that rings Terra Ceia Island, a 1,000 acre community in north Manatee County. It’s also the exact spot that a radical new proposal has shaken a community and given rise to a fierce debate over the area’s future.
The Seattle-based marine terminal operator SSA Marine, in conjunction with the landowner, Slip Knott LLC, has proposed constructing a cruise ship port here. The port would sit on a property known as Knott-Cowen, which abuts Miguel Bay on one side and Interstate-275 at the base of the Sunshine Skyway on the other.
An anhinga perched atop a tree at Rattlesnake Key. Photo by Brice Claypoole
In an op-ed in the Bradenton Herald, the president of SSA Marine’s cruise division laid out a vision of the port “enhancing West Central Florida’s position in an evolving cruise industry, while respecting the surrounding environment, creating long-term economic opportunities for the local community and supporting regional tourism.” The company estimates that the port could create 31,000 local jobs and boost labor earnings by around $1.6 billion. The Manatee County Chamber of Commerce did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the potential economic impacts of the project.
Another Key promise? SSA Marine says they’ll preserve Rattlesnake Key, a 700-acre island they bought through a subsidiary last year. Last month, WSLR spoke with longtime charter captain Scott Moore after the purchase of Rattlesnake Key. What does he think of the new proposal?
Scott Moore
Scott Moore: First of all, shame on the State of Florida and shame on the government of Manatee County at the time. They could have bought that property, and they didn’t.
BC: He’s referring to the failed attempt by the state and county to buy Rattlesnake Key in 2022. In 2024, the Knott-Cowen property, too, was up for grabs. Despite faulting the state’s inaction, Moore gives SSA Marine credit for its plan to preserve Rattlesnake.
SM: At least we’ve got Rattlesnake. This company is at least setting something aside.
BC: Still, the cruise port proposal is widely opposed by residents. A poll on The Bradenton Journal substack by Marc Masferrer found over 80 percent of respondents opposed the port. A Facebook group of residents expressing their opposition has over 1,000 members including Manatee County Commissioner Carol Felts.
Legend of the Seas. Rendering via Royal Caribbean
A major concern from residents is the massive environmental impact of cruise ships.
Large cruise ships can use up to 80,000 gallons of fuel a day. Discharges of pollutants, wastewater, and garbage can have detrimental impacts on the environment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency calls cruise ships “akin to floating cities.”
SSA Marine’s website provides little information on the environmental impacts of their operations but touts a commitment to sustainability and efforts to drastically reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. SSA Marine did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the dredging and removal of mangroves needed for a port will transform Miguel Bay. Glen Compton, Chair of the environmental group Manasota-88, said the proposal was cause for concern.
Glen Compton: The cruise ship industry is not necessarily the most environmentally friendly activity to have, especially in the shallow waters of Tampa Bay. It’s something that we’ll pay very close attention to.
Disney Adventure. Photo via The Walt Disney Company
BC: Terra Ceia residents are even more staunch in their opposition, worrying that replacing a key estuary with a massive port would transform the largely rural community whose economy has depended on fishing for thousands of years—from Native American tribes, to Spanish settlers, to modern-day commercial and charter captains.
Nel McPhillips is the President of the Terra Ceia Village Improvement Association.
Nel McPhillips: The Terra Ceia Village Improvement Association was formed 125 years ago. I believe we’re the oldest civic organization in the state of Florida. This is old Florida and Terra Ceia. It’s very unusual and in its beauty and all the cultural, historic, and natural resources here. So, no, we don’t want to see a port.
BC: Terra Ceia residents Jeoff and Ashley Click paint the same picture of the community as an enclave of “old Florida” charm. Local businesses include Brower’s Nursery, The Citrus Place, and a horse farm. Many streets are one-lane roads overhung by oak trees, residents own hobby farms, and nights are dark and quiet.
Terra Ceia
Ashley Click: This is Old Florida. We have our oak trees. We have very narrow one-lane roads. It’s mostly still dark—we don’t have streetlights. It’s just not compatible whatsoever with what a cruise port would bring.
Jeoff Click: Over the weekend, there’s been a lot of emotions and a lot of people understandably worried about what this could be. We’ve already heard from quite a few neighbors that, if this did go through, they would be moving.
AC: It would ruin this island completely.
JC: It would totally change our way of life.
BC: Terra Ceia fisherman Sean Morrissey has grown up on our waters. He says Miguel Bay is one of the best fishing grounds in the area.
Sean Morrissey: That is where—even a lot of the charter fishermen—that’s how most of those guys make money, because that fishing is so good over there that it’s almost a guarantee that you can bring a client there and you can catch your snook, your trout, your flounder, your red fish.
Terra Ceia
BC: Though Morrissey’s commercial fishing takes place outside of the Miguel Bay estuary, he worries it’s just as vulnerable because species like stone crab and mullet depend on the estuary to breed.
SM: It’s not even just me. We have a local guy that does clamming that’s right there in the middle of Miguel Bay. We’ve got countless people that blue crab around the area, recreational and commercial. It would just absolutely destroy a whole way of living for so many people. The fishing speaks for itself. You talk to anybody that’s been born and raised around here, they’ll tell you that this is some of the best fishing in the Tampa Bay area. If they add a giant cruise port here, it’ll just kill everything.
BC: Morrissey’s final message?
SM: A lot of people don’t fish or don’t really understand the impacts that this would have against local residents and fishermen. I really highly suggest that they book a charter, they get with some friends, they go fishing and really see it firsthand and see what could possibly be destroyed.
BC: For WSLR News, this is Brice Claypoole.
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