In the buildup to United States-Panama free trade talks in Tampa this month, sponsors dug up a surprising nugget: Tampa is the closest major U.S. port to the Central American nation.
The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce used it in a press release trumpeting the talks. When negotiations opened at the Tampa Marriott Waterside on Aug. 9, speakers at various events cited it as fact.
As it turns out, two other Florida ports could lay claim to the distinction. Depending on the route vessels sail and how you define the port's location, Miami is slightly closer to Panama than Tampa.
"Sometimes it's shorter and sometimes it's not," says Lori Musser, spokeswoman for the Tampa Port Authority. "It's so close that it is a debatable point."
A better case might be made for Port Manatee. Nobody disputes the geography: Port Manatee is 38 miles closer to the mouth of Tampa Bay, and therefore closer to any destination outside the bay, than Tampa's port.
But is Manatee a "major" port? Officials at Port Manatee obviously think so. While smaller than Tampa, the port handles the same types of cargo. Manatee doesn't have cruise ships, but Tampa considered itself a major port before the cruise business arrived.
Musser says no one wants to get into a tit-for-tat over what counts as a major port. But Tampa is the area's only "full-service" port because it has services such as ship yards and and main offices of shipping agents, she says.
Next time officials are tempted to trot out the Panama-Tampa connection, they need to put an asterisk at the end. Or, just forget it.
