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Port Everglades - the cruise ship port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida - broke the world record for passengers sailing in and out of a port in a single day on Saturday 20th March, a statistic which will also be good news for bunker sales.

A total of 52,000 passengers passed through the port on Saturday, breaking the previous record day for business on January 3 2009, when 49,234 passengers sailed in and out of Port Everglades on 11 cruise ships.

Amongst the vessels in port over the weekend was the largest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas, which also has its own 240,000 square foot terminal.

Also in Port Everglades was another Royal Caribbean giant, Independence of the Seas (which will be sailing from Southampton throughout the summer); Crown Princess and Ruby Princess, two of the newest and biggest ships in the Princess fleet; Carnival Miracle, Holland America's Eurodam and Italy's Costa Atlantica and MSC Poesia.

The port's variety of business lines - cargo shipping, cruise, petroleum and real estate - have helped keep Port Everglades profitable despite the global economic downturn.

The number of people traveling aboard traditional multiday cruise ships increased by 7.6 percent from 2,636,711 passengers in 2008 to 2,836,954 passengers in 2009.

"We can expect our cruise numbers to continue to increase over the next few years with the addition of Royal Caribbean Line's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, which are the largest cruise ships in the world and will be sailing every Saturday and Sunday year-round," Port Everglades Business Development Director Carlos Buqueras said recently.

Oasis of the Seas began sailing from Port Everglades in December 2009 and Allure of the Seas is expected to begin sailing from the port in November 2010.

"Once both ships are sailing year-round along with our other cruise line partners, Port Everglades will be in the running for the title of number one cruise port in the world in terms of passenger movements," added Buqueras.

Containerized cargo, which has increased significantly over the past 10 years, experienced downturns similar to other major U.S. seaports in 2009 decreasing by 19.2 percent from a record high of 985,095 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in 2008 to 796,160 TEUs in 2009. Tonnage decreased by 21 percent from 6,584,747 tons in 2008 to 5,204,103 tons in 2009. Over the past decade, however, containerized cargo tonnage has increased by 27 percent from 4,091,936 tons in 2000.

Bulk and break bulk cargos such as cement, steel and lumber decreased by 35 percent from 2008, which port officials attribute to the downturn in the South Florida construction industry, including the related downturn in the South Florida housing market. Petroleum also decreased, by 5 percent, from 113,941,485 barrels in 2008 to 108,356,216 barrels in 2009.

"This past year is a perfect example of how the business diversity at Port Everglades gives us an advantage over many other seaports that specialize in only one or two business sectors," said Port Everglades Director Phil Allen.

"While our overall numbers are down for the past fiscal year, the port's operating revenue remained in the black during the past year because we held expenses at the same level as the two previous fiscal years and our cruise business increased."