HOUSTON, Feb. 8, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- About 800 elected officials, port commissioners, community leaders, labor leaders and representatives of the maritime industry turned out on February 8 to watch the arrival of a new era in the containerized cargo market. "The Berth of Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal" provided the 800 guests the opportunity to witness the opening phase of the most technologically advanced container terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Photos accompanying this release are available at http://media.primezone.com/poha/pages/facilities.html
Deeming it a "glorious occasion," PHA Chairman Emeritus Ned Holmes led a list of prominent speakers who gave insight into the many benefits Bayport will have to offer -- sophisticated security systems, opportunities for jobs, a commitment to workplace safety and responsible environmental stewardship.
The Port of Houston Authority dominates the U.S. Gulf Coast containerized cargo market. Currently, PHA handles 64 percent of that market along the U.S. Gulf, and 94 percent of the waterborne containers moving through Texas. Most of that activity takes place at PHA's companion container terminal at Barbours Cut. The Barbours Cut terminal was built in the 1970s and is operating above designed capacity.
"Barbours Cut was an extraordinary gamble that the Port Commission made under the leadership of Chairman Fentress Bracewell," PHA Executive Director Tom Kornegay said of the terminal that opened in 1977. "Barbours Cut was a vision of where cargo handling trends were headed in the future. The gamble paid off, and Barbours Cut allowed us to dominate the container trade in the U.S. Gulf."
Container throughput at Houston's port has risen at an average growth rate of more than 10 percent per year for the last 15 years. Studies conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute predict a continued worldwide container growth rate of 7.2 percent through 2010. The study also estimates annual growth rates as high as 13 percent along the Gulf of Mexico.
Conservative projections suggest Bayport will have a profound impact on the local economy. After five years of operation, the combined container and cruise terminal is projected to generate 9,825 jobs, $395.4 million in personal income, $1.1 billion in business revenue and $35.6 million in state and local taxes. At full build-out of the facility in 15 or more years, 32,163 jobs, $1.4 billion in personal income, $2.4 billion in business revenues and $128 million in state and local taxes will be produced from Bayport's operations. Roger Guenther, PHA General Manager of Container Terminals, will manage Bayport. CMA CGM, the world's third largest shipping company, is the first customer at Bayport and will be joined by Mediterranean Shipping Company as the only two steamship lines calling at Bayport for the foreseeable future.
Frank Baragona, President of CMA CGM (America) Inc., spoke of his company's pride in being Bayport's first customer. "CMA CGM (America) Inc. is pleased to be the first tenant at Bayport and would like to thank the Port of Houston Authority, government officials, labor and all those involved in the collaborative effort that brings us here today," Baragona said. "We value the trust and respect that allowed the Port Authority to award Phase I of Bayport to CMA CGM. We are proud to partner with the Port of Houston Authority in positioning Bayport on the global stage."
PHA Chairman Jim Edmonds said the $1.4 billion facility will nearly triple the port authority's container handling capacity. "When fully developed, the terminal will have a total of seven container berths with the capacity to handle 2.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) on a complex which includes a 376-acre container yard and a 123-acre intermodal facility," Edmonds said.
"By 2008, we will open the cruise terminal," Edmonds said. "Ultimately, it will have three berths to accommodate as many as 1.7 million passengers with parking capacity for 2,000 cars. The cruise terminal will have over 40 acres of onsite co-development available." Edmonds also pointed out that it took the port authority 12 years, from 1987 to 1999, to go from a volume of 500,000 TEUs of containerized cargo, to one million. In 2005, he said, PHA passed the 1.5 million TEU mark and, with Bayport now on line, PHA will soon reach 2 million TEUs.
The chairman applauded the environmental innovations being implemented at Bayport. "I am especially proud of the proactive approach we took to this facility with regard to the environment," Edmonds added. "As the nation's first port to attain and also be recertified as meeting the world standard for environmental excellence, ISO 14001, Bayport is one of the greenest terminals in the world. Bayport demonstrates that business can be conducted in an environmentally responsible manner on the Houston Ship Channel and we are proud to set an example we hope others will follow."
West Gulf Maritime Association President Walt Niemand and South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District President Clyde Fitzgerald drove home the significance of Bayport to local labor and commerce. "A growing and thriving trade through this splendid new facility benefits all port industries," Niemand said. "It shows the world the value of doing business here today and for many years to come."
Fitzgerald, speaking on behalf of his rank-and-file members, expressed gratitude for Bayport's expansion of job opportunities. "Jobs at this port have been supporting families up and down the ship channel for generations," Fitzgerald said. "It is the kind of work that tends to run in families, with fathers bringing their sons and daughters to the port for work as soon as they are old enough. "We have worked closely with the port authority for many years to make sure that the port remains competitive."
The ceremony was also marked by the christening of CMA CGM's newest vessel, The Blue Whale. Annette Edmonds, served as Godmother of the Blue Whale. The 5100 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) vessel is one of eight new super-size container ships CMA CGM is adding to its fleet.
Other notable speakers at the event included: Captain William Diehl, Commander and Captain of The Port of Houston; Jeffrey Baldwin, Field Office Director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Captain Paul Brown, former Presiding Officer, Houston Pilots; Pasadena Mayor John Manlove, Houston City Councilmember Carol Alvarado and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels.
PHA will continue to reach out to neighboring communities to enable industry and community to coexist.
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Photo 2 - Annette Edmonds, Godmother CMA CGM's Blue Whale, releases a champagne bottle during the christening of the vessel.
Photo 4 - Port of Houston Authority Chairman Jim Edmonds stands aboard ship with the cranes of the new Bayport Container Terminal in the background.
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 7,000 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and 10th largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
To access the port's web site photo gallery, please visit http://www.portofhouston.com/publicrelations/publicrelations.html and click the link for PHA Photo Gallery.
