towed back through Port Canaveral upon retrieval from the Atlantic Ocean after each launch. NASA contributed $250,000 for improvements in the lock in 1965. In 1990, Morton Salt began operations at the port. In 2018, it imported salt from the Bahamas and produced of pool, water softener, sea salt, and agricultural salts. Prior to its disestablishment in 2000, Premier Cruise Line was headquartered in Cape Canaveral. In 2008, Sterling Casino Lines ceased doing business at the port. A week later, the Las Vegas Casino Line began operating gambling cruises. On March 25, 2009, the Las Vegas Casino Line filed for bankruptcy, joining the Sterling Casino on the list of failed 'Casino Lines' to operate out of Port Canaveral. In 2009, a commissioner resigned and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that it was conducting an investigation into possible corruption at the port. In 2009, the last cruise company to offer gambling, SunCruz Casinos, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation). The companies failed due to competition from land-based gambling activities in Seminole Casinos, and Greyhound racing venues. Gambling liners hit a high on 1.0 million passengers in 2004, before starting to decline. Casino operations generated about $5–$6 million annually for the port. Mega-cruise ships and were homeported in Port Canaveral in 2009, followed by the in 2011. In the 2010s, SpaceX began using the port for their autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS). In April 2016, the ASDS returned the first Falcon 9 booster recovered at sea to Port Canaveral. Seaport Canaveral was completed in 2010. Vitol SA built a fuel-tank depot with a pipeline to Orlando International Airport. The , storage depot cost $150 million. Cruise Terminal 6 opened in mid-2012, for Carnival Dream, Carnival Sensation, and other Carnival ships. A recent addition to the port is the seven-story Exploration Tower, which offers tourists almost of exhibit space, interactive displays, two observation decks – one inside and one outside – a 72-seat auditorium, event rooms, and a café and gift shop. Canaveral Pilots In the year 1968 the Canaveral Pilots Association was founded by pilots Frederick Dezendorf and Frederick Jonassen. The Canaveral Pilots Association is the local association of state licensed harbor pilots who board all inbound and outbound foreign-flagged ocean-going ships, as well as select U.S. flagged vessels who call on the port. While on board the ships, the pilot take conn and direct the movement of the vessels