Riviera Beach, Florida, 2020-This afternoon, Port of Palm Beach staff members distributed reusable cloth face coverings to various Port of Palm Beach tenants who continue operating during the COVID-19 crisis. About 3,000 face masks arrived at the Port on Monday.
Tenants will be distributing the masks to mariners, stevedores, truck drivers and other local essential maritime critical infrastructure workers. Port employees, including security guards, also received masks.
The Port of Palm Beach is just one of about 400 maritime transportation entities nationwide that requested and received the shipment of masks, in large part thanks to the American Association of Port Authorities and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.
“As chair of the Department of Homeland Security’s Maritime Sector Coordination Council (MSCC) Task Force, which was formed to advise the federal government of maritime-sector needs, AAPA was successful in obtaining orders for the cloth masks in late May from FEMA on a tight weekend timeline,” stated AAPA Government Relations Director Cary Davis, who served as AAPA’s lead on the project. “For weeks prior to that, we worked with our maritime partners to aggressively advocate for an allocation for essential maritime transportation workers. The MSCC worked with other transport sectors – such as rail and truck – to obtain some face
coverings from FEMA, and that combined work resulted in our maritime allocation.”
The masks are part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) multi-prong approach to keep essential businesses working while continuing to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“We are thankful for the support of all entities that made this happen. The supply of washable cloth face coverings will help protect port workers from exposure to the virus as they continue to keep our supply chain running,” said Manuel Almira, Port Executive Director.
About Port of Palm Beach
Located in Riviera Beach, the Port of Palm Beach is a full-service, diversified port, offering cruise and cargo services to more than 30 onsite tenants and users. At 162 acres, the Port’s efficiency is unparalleled, processing more than $7 billion in commodities, 2.5 million tons of cargo, and 500,000 cruise passengers annually. As one of the largest employers in Palm Beach County, the Port of Palm Beach and its tenants employ more than 2,850 people. Through the contribution of more than $185 million in business revenue and $17.5 million in tenantcontributed state and local annual tax revenue, the Port of Palm Beach is a large economic engine in South Florida. For more information, visit www.portofpalmbeach.com.