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Port of Houston continues to move forward
  
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By ROY N. KENT
The Port of Houston is big … very big.
Charlie Jenkins, the director of planning and environment for the Port of Houston, started off his presentation at the monthly Pasadena Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon by pointing that out.
Jenkins pointed out the port leads the nation in foreign tonnage and is second in overall tonnage. The port is home to the world’s second-largest petrochemical complexes. Some 7,700 ships and 150,000 barges call yearly.
“One out of three jobs in Harris County are related to port trade,” he said.
What comes through the port is used locally but what leaves is what is more remarkable.
“We have an enormous amount of export trade,” he said.
Over the last two years, Jenkins said about 60 percent of all port business has been export related.
The Port of Houston’s performance was acknowledged in May when President Bush gave the entity an E-Star Award for its export excellence. Also, Jenkins said, the port recently renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the Panama Canal Authority to keep trade moving through Panama to and from Houston.
A big chunk of Jenkins’ presentation focused on the Bayport facility and what’s happening there. He was particularly proud of the Port of Houston’s quick actions following Hurricane Ike.
“Ike brought us an interesting challenge,” he said.
With the Carnival Cruise facility wiped out in Galveston, officials with that company contacted the Port of Houston seeking a place to dock.
“We had no electricity, no building occupancy permits,” Jenkins said. “We had to work with a huge number of entities to open up.”
However, the Thursday following Hurricane Ike, the Bayport Cruise Terminal opened for business.
“It was an opportunity to prove what our port could do,” Jenkins said.
He also said opening was necessary to keep the cruise business in Texas. If the ships had to go elsewhere to dock, they may not have come back. Also, he said selfishly, it was an opportunity to show a potential client what the Bayport terminal had to offer.
Jenkins then moved to what the port is doing at Bayport to be a good neighbor and good for the environment. Reduced truck idling time through reducing the number of stops a truck entering the Bayport complex is a concept in its early stages. Currently, Jenkins said, a truck has about four minutes of idling time at two checkpoints. It is hoped that time is cut to about two-and-a-half minutes. The reduced idling time will help cut pollution by a projected 29 percent.
He also said Bayport is currently about one-third complete.
Jenkins also spoke about the Freight Rail District; safe and secure programs; the security district; and small business development, with 39 percent of eligible contracts landed by small businesses in the region.
For more information on the Port of Houston, visit the Internet at www.portofhouston.com.
The next major event for the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce is the annual Taste of the Town, scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Pasadena Convention Center. For more information, visit the Internet at http://pasadenachamber.org.
Charlie Jenkins, the director of planning and environment for the Port of Houston, started off his presentation at the monthly Pasadena Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon by pointing that out.
Jenkins pointed out the port leads the nation in foreign tonnage and is second in overall tonnage. The port is home to the world’s second-largest petrochemical complexes. Some 7,700 ships and 150,000 barges call yearly.
“One out of three jobs in Harris County are related to port trade,” he said.
What comes through the port is used locally but what leaves is what is more remarkable.
“We have an enormous amount of export trade,” he said.
Over the last two years, Jenkins said about 60 percent of all port business has been export related.
The Port of Houston’s performance was acknowledged in May when President Bush gave the entity an E-Star Award for its export excellence. Also, Jenkins said, the port recently renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the Panama Canal Authority to keep trade moving through Panama to and from Houston.
A big chunk of Jenkins’ presentation focused on the Bayport facility and what’s happening there. He was particularly proud of the Port of Houston’s quick actions following Hurricane Ike.
“Ike brought us an interesting challenge,” he said.
With the Carnival Cruise facility wiped out in Galveston, officials with that company contacted the Port of Houston seeking a place to dock.
“We had no electricity, no building occupancy permits,” Jenkins said. “We had to work with a huge number of entities to open up.”
However, the Thursday following Hurricane Ike, the Bayport Cruise Terminal opened for business.
“It was an opportunity to prove what our port could do,” Jenkins said.
He also said opening was necessary to keep the cruise business in Texas. If the ships had to go elsewhere to dock, they may not have come back. Also, he said selfishly, it was an opportunity to show a potential client what the Bayport terminal had to offer.
Jenkins then moved to what the port is doing at Bayport to be a good neighbor and good for the environment. Reduced truck idling time through reducing the number of stops a truck entering the Bayport complex is a concept in its early stages. Currently, Jenkins said, a truck has about four minutes of idling time at two checkpoints. It is hoped that time is cut to about two-and-a-half minutes. The reduced idling time will help cut pollution by a projected 29 percent.
He also said Bayport is currently about one-third complete.
Jenkins also spoke about the Freight Rail District; safe and secure programs; the security district; and small business development, with 39 percent of eligible contracts landed by small businesses in the region.
For more information on the Port of Houston, visit the Internet at www.portofhouston.com.
The next major event for the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce is the annual Taste of the Town, scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Pasadena Convention Center. For more information, visit the Internet at http://pasadenachamber.org.
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