US Ports Get More Than $280 Mln in MARAD Grants
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced that it has awarded more than $280 million in discretionary grant funding through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program. This funding is designed to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports.The Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure our nation’s freight transportation needs, present and future, are met.
Port of Houston Ups Refrigerated Cargo Capacity
The first phase of a 300,000-square-foot temperature-controlled cargo facility will be built at the Port of Houston Authority’s Bayport Container Terminal by AGRO Merchants Group, which provides cold supply chain operations globally. Upon completion, the new facility will add to the infrastructure already in place at Bayport, which opened in 2007 and is one of the newest container facilities on the Gulf Coast. Negotiations between the Port Authority and AGRO Merchants Group regarding construction and operation of the refrigerated cargo center had been under way for some time and were successfully concluded recently. Plans call for the…
Princess Cruises' Inaugural Bayport Sailing Benefits Vets
Princess Cruises' new service from the Port of Houston Authority's Bayport Cruise Terminal in Pasadena, Texas, kicks off with a four-day benefit cruise aboard 'Caribbean Princess' to Progreso, Mexico. About 2,000 passengers supported "Cruising for a Cause" and the first-ever fundraising cruise is expected to raise up to $1 million for two U.S. military veterans' organizations: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Operation Homefront. After this first voyage, to conclude on 9, November, 2013, Caribbean Princess is scheduled to begin, with a total of 27 sailings from the Houston terminal.
Mightiest STS Konecranes Yet Ordered for Port of Houston
Super Post-Panamax STS (Ship-to-Shore) cranes ordered by the Port of Houston Authority will be the biggest STS ever manufatured by Konecranes. The order includes four Super Post Panamax STS (Ship-to-Shore) cranes and three RTG (Rubber Tired Gantry) cranes. The STS cranes will be shipped to to PHA’s Barbours Cut Terminal in late 2014 and supplied during the first quarter of 2015, while the RTGs will be delivered to Bayport Terminal in spring 2014. The STS cranes ordered are semi-automated and come with Konecranes’ AC frequency control system.
Port of Houston Expanding, Adds Facilities
Port Commission approves Barbours Cut, Bayport, crane deals, new Bayport gate system. Corporation for four electric wharf cranes at Barbours Cut Container Terminal. The Port Commission also amended a contract with Konecranes for eight diesel electric container yard cranes for Barbours Cut to include three additional diesel electric container yard cranes for the Bayport Terminal at a cost of $5.9 million. The growth in containers is a leading indicator for the need for expanded facilities at Bayport to provide present and future customers with consistent, efficient service, as well as improvements in the truck gate technology at Bayport. Port Authority Executive Director Len Waterworth noted that growth seen in April largely was due to containers.
Port of Houston Commissioners Approves Dredging Agreements
The Port Commission approved U.S. Army Corps of Engineers MOA’s for Maintenance Dredging at Barbours Cut and Bayport. Two Memoranda of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for maintenance dredging were approved by the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority at its recent meeting, including up to $550,000 for maintenance dredging of Barbours Cut Terminal berths and up to $400,000 for maintenance dredging for Bayport Terminal berths. Executive Director Len Waterworth said that the Port Authority garnered a substantial savings for each contract by combining its requirements with channel maintenance and using the Army Corps of Engineers contracts for these projects.
Permit Helps Clear Way for $1.2 Billion Terminal
The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) signed the federal permit for the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal on Monday. The permit was then issued after Col. Leonard Waterworth signed it. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit was the next critical step in the process to build the $1.2 billion terminal. Construction is expected to begin soon. "We have always felt that this step would occur," said Jim Edmonds, PHA commission chairman. The Corps studied the port authority's Bayport terminal for more than five years…
Port Authority Commission Delivers Security Equipment
The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) commission approved several recommendations involving contract awards, bids and proposals, professional services and general administrative and operational matters during its meeting on Monday, January 26. Chairman Jim Edmonds presided over the public meeting. The commission approved recommendations to issue purchase orders to Motorola, Inc., Dictaphone Corporation, and SBC, respectively, for radio system equipment, voice recorder equipment, and telephone lines that will be installed in the PHA's Emergency Command Center. The combined total amount of the purchase orders is not expected to exceed $385,000.
Port Clarifies Commission Decision on Bayport CSPs
During its public meeting on Monday, January 26, the Port of Houston Authority commission rejected all competitive sealed proposals that had been received for the potential negotiation and awarding of a contract for construction of the container yard at the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal. The commissioners determined that obtaining new CSPs for this project would provide the best value for PHA, and authorized re-advertisement for receipt of new CSPs. facility. in February or March. On January 5, PHA Executive Director Tom Kornegay and U.S. the $1.2 billion terminal. and the environmental impacts the terminal might pose. Quality in an attempt to stop the terminal from being developed. ensure that the project can move forward. heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo.
Port of Houston Declines Suggestion For New Terminal
Port of Houston Authority Chairman James T. Edmonds has declined a suggestion by Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association Chairman James Blackburn that the Port adopt one of two alternative sites in place of the Port's proposed Bayport location for a new Houston area container terminal. "Bayport is the right location for the Port's proposed container and cruise terminal, environmentally, financially and socially," Edmonds told Blackburn. In a meeting on Thursday, Blackburn proposed that Spilman Island and Texas City would be better locations for the new container facility. Edmonds described both alternatives as impractical.
PHA Commission Approves $1.4m in Contracts and Projects
will require heavy-capacity forklift and yard tractors. Included in the provisions are: a change order to McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. for $180,938; a $68,000 increase in the professional services contract to Lockwood Andrews and Newnam, Inc. tractors for Bayport Container Terminal for an estimated $650,000.
Port of Houston Considers Contracts
The Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) will consider $1.4m in contracts and projects for the Bayport container and cruise terminals to permit it to meet future demands -- including a new 50-acre container yard -- that will require heavy-capacity forklift and yard tractors. Among the considerations are: a change order to McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. for Bayport Terminal Complex Phase 1 Container Yard -- Stage 1 for $186,929; a change order to Morganti Texas, Inc., for Bayport Cruise Terminal Complex -- Phase 1 Terminal Building for $180,938; a $68,000 increase in the professional services contract to Lockwood Andrews and Newnam, Inc.
