US Gulf Report

Special Report

Terminal fluidity key to Port Houston container growth : new chief

Port Houston is testing a new truck appointment system and using AI to manage container cranes as it optimizes capacity at its two existing marine terminals even as it looks down the road at building a third terminal , the port ’ s new chief says .

As the port starts handling neo-Panamax vessels next year , Houston ’ s current terminal capacity should take it through the next decade , Executive Director Charlie Jenkins told the Journal of Commerce . Even so , the port wants to have a plan to handle future growth with more capacity .

“ Terminal three will come , just like terminal two came , which is Bayport ,” Jenkins said . “ We ’ re further refining the top candidates [ for the third terminal ’ s location ] and working to get to a decision hopefully in the next year .

“ We want to handle cargo at the lowest cost , and if we can incrementally improve our existing terminals , we ’ ll be doing that ,” he added . “ There ’ s a lot that we can do to use up our existing capacity , which we think is about 10 years . We ’ re going to be able to continue to develop , densify and improve cargo fluidity .” Jenkins , who has been with the port for 34 years , took over as executive director in September following the retirement of Roger Guenther . As with his predecessor , Jenkins started when the port still had one container terminal , Barbours Cut , with 11 ship-to-shore ( STS ) cranes . Barbours Cut , which mostly handles the trans-Atlantic and South America services , now has 14 STS cranes .

In late August , Houston received three additional STS cranes that will be installed at Bayport container terminal , bringing its total crane count to 18 .

Houston also has on order another eight cranes that are expected to arrive in 2026 . Four of those will go to a new berth at Bayport while the others will be installed at redeveloped berths at Barbours Cut .

‘ Very , very big improvements ’

Port Houston

The new cranes will eventually serve the larger ships that are coming with the expected 2025 completion of Project 11 , the multi-year endeavor to widen Houston ’ s ship channel to accommodate two-way traffic of neo-Panamax vessels , allowing an additional 1,400 vessels of all types to call the port each year . Portions of the channel are also being deepened to 46.5 feet to accommodate the larger ships .

Jenkins said the section of the ship channel between the Gulf of Mexico and Bayport , which handles the larger ships used for Asia services , is close to completion . In November , an ocean carrier is expected to bring in a neo-Panamax vessel to test navigability of the wider channel , Jenkins said . He added that the port ’ s decision to fund its $ 1 billion project obligation through revenue bonds and channel user fees helped speed up completion of the work .

“ By investing our own capital , we ’ re decades ahead of where we would have been if we followed the traditional

24 Journal of Commerce | November 4 , 2024 www . joc . com