Car transporter to expand to port

Port Everglades will soon become the scene of tens of thousands of annual car imports and exports after Broward County approved a lease allowing an oceangoing shipper to expand its terminal business.

Horizon Terminal Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Höegh Autoliners of Norway, won a new longterm lease for more than 8.6 acres where the company will invest $630,000 for a new facility and create 25 additional jobs.

Broward County commissioners approved the lease on Tuesday. The deal means Horizon’s current operation will move from the port’s Southport area to the so-called Midport area. The space is the former site of a warehouse occupied by Chiquita Banana, which vacated the premises in March 2017.

Horizon’s existing site can handle 15,000 cars a year; the new one is expected to move 40,000 to 50,000 cars and heavy pieces of equipment.

According to the port, Horizon imported more than 4,300 new General Motors vehicles manufactured in Mexico since its operation started last May. Horizon also has exported more than 2,000 new Hondas made in the United States. The operation also serves as a transshipment point for vehicles destined for South American markets.

When the cars arrive, they’re offloaded and driven into the warehouse where workers prepare them for distribution, installing radios and other equipment in the interiors.

Besides Fort Lauderdale, Horizon operates terminals in Jacksonville and Texas, as well as Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

dvlyons@sun-sentinel .com or 954-356-4340