Port of Fernandina Wins $11 Million Federal Grant to Fix Chronic Flooding and Repair Aging Docks in Nassau County

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. - The Port of Fernandina has been awarded $11 million in federal money to address recurring flooding and repair aging dock infrastructure, according to an announcement from U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody's office on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The grant goes to the Ocean Highway and Port Authority, the public body that governs the Nassau County port, and comes from the federal Port Infrastructure Development Program, according to WFTV. The money is meant to protect cargo operations, improve worker safety and preserve the port's long-term reliability.

The award is one of the larger pieces of outside money in recent memory for a small port that sits on the Amelia River in the heart of Fernandina Beach. It also arrives while the port's governance and finances remain in the news, so the details of what the grant will and will not pay for matter. Here is what has been announced, what the port is, and what has not yet been made public.

What the $11 million is for

According to WFTV, the project has two parts. The first is drainage and flood protection, including upgrades to the drainage system, water-capture infrastructure and pumps built to handle storm surge and heavy rain. The second is repair work on the docks themselves.

The planned dock work includes crane rail repairs, deck patching, beam reinforcement, pile repairs and cathodic protection, along with other structural rehabilitation, according to the report. Cathodic protection is a technique used to slow corrosion of metal in marine structures. Taken together, the list points to a facility whose waterfront structures are showing their age and whose yard is vulnerable when water rises.

Moody's office said chronic flooding and deteriorating infrastructure "threatened the port's ability to handle cargo safely and reliably," according to WFTV. The announcement did not include a construction schedule. It also did not say how soon the federal money will be released or whether the port authority must put up matching funds.

What the Port of Fernandina is

The port's website describes a channel with a 36-foot depth at mean low water, a 1,200-foot wharf sized for two medium ships and rail service from CSX and the First Coast Railroad. It lists 10 acres of open storage and a container yard of more than 11 acres with 48 refrigerated-container plugs that can be expanded to 144. Its equipment list includes a Liebherr LHM 400 mobile harbor crane and a container gantry crane.

The cargo list on the site is broad. Exports include kraft liner board, lumber, machinery, yachts and steel and aluminum products, while imports include steel rebar, wire rod coils, hardwoods and oats. Containerized cargo ranges from consumer goods and building materials to plastics, beverages and frozen and chilled foods, according to the port.

The site also notes that the port is operated by Relay Terminals under a long-term contract with the Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County. The port's website is not consistent on every figure, such as its distance from the open ocean. Readers who need exact navigation details should confirm them with the port directly. Those figures are context only and are not part of the grant announcement.

The governance backdrop

The grant lands in the middle of a long-running dispute over how the port is run. The Fernandina Observer reported on April 11, 2026, that the authority's vice chair, Scott Moore, described the operating agreement as unlike any other in Florida. The same report said commissioners had rejected a proposed 40-month layberthing lease on April 8 and that the authority and the operator disagreed over about $3 million in U.S. Customs house improvements.

The Observer also reported that the authority had lost its tax-exempt status, which Moore said was unique among Florida's 15 seaports, and that he cited roughly $3 million in back taxes. The report said the port supports roughly 25 jobs, according to Moore. Those figures come from the April report and were not updated in the grant announcement, so the current status of those disputes is not covered here.

What to watch next

Several practical questions remain open. The authority will have to turn the award into a federal agreement before construction can be scheduled, and the reports reviewed do not say when that will happen. Residents near the waterfront and port customers will also want to know whether the drainage work will change how water moves around the port property during heavy rain.

The authority holds public meetings, and the grant is likely to come up as the board decides how to carry out the work. Meeting dates and agendas are posted by the authority and the Nassau County government. This story will be updated if the authority or the Maritime Administration publishes a schedule.