Pha News

A total of seven incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia - five actual incidents and two attempted incidents - in January 2018, compared to 16 incidents reported in December 2017, according to regional piracy watchdog ReCAAP ISC. Out of the seven reported, five were actual and two were attempted incidents. One of these was a piracy incident and six were armed robberies against ships. Five incidents occurred on board ships while at anchor/berth, specifically at Muara Berau (East Kalimantan, Indonesia), Manila (Philippines), Cam Pha (Vietnam) and the South China Sea. The two incidents on board ships while underway occurred off Alang, Gujarat (India) and off Pulau Karimun (Straits of Malacca and Singapore).

In 2015, the Port of Houston Authority has budgeted $275 million for various capital improvement projects. About $184 million is being allocated to its container terminals for continuing development of Bayport and modernization at Barbours Cut, and another $35 million is for improvements at the Turning Basin’s general cargo and bulk terminals. The remaining 2015 capital budget funds will be used for railroad improvements, channel development, port security, building renovations and information technology. Significant infrastructure improvements planned during the next few years are aimed at accommodating the arrival of larger vessels and increased cargo resulting from the pending Panama Canal expansion as well as regional population growth.

Houston’s Port Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria delivered the 2014 State of the port address in early November. Completing her second year, chairman Longoria reported to a capacity crowd of almost 500 people that the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) is enjoying business success, also stressing PHA’s efforts to carry out its mission of economic development, with continued commitments to safety, maritime education, environmental stewardship and the community. Longoria stated…

SBM Offshore is pleased to announce it has signed a Production Handling Agreement (PHA) with Noble Energy to produce the Big Bend and Dantzler fields to the Thunder Hawk DeepDraft (TM) Semi located in 6,060 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Production fees associated with produced volumes are estimated to lead up to projected revenue of US$400 million to be delivered over the ten year primary contract period. First oil from Big Bend and Dantzler are expected in late 2015 and first quarter 2016 respectively. At these levels both fields will utilize a maximum of 85% of total daily asset capacity, and brownfield construction to upgrade the facility will be handled by Noble Energy.

More steel moved across the docks in July than any month since 2008, Executive Director Roger Guenther reported at the recent meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. Guenther also noted that PHA has achieved a record, with operating revenues in July 2014 of more than $24 million. Steel and bulk cargo support a solid 5 percent growth in tonnage, he said. More than 22 million tons of cargo moved across Port Authority docks during the first seven months. the highest tonnage in steel since 2008, 844,000 tons. Container volume was relatively flat compared to last year, but has seen a 4-percent increase in the number of loaded boxes year to date.

The 53rd U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, visited the Port of Houston Authority last week and was given an aerial tour of the Houston Ship Channel as part of a briefing that highlighted economic growth along the federal waterway. He and Corps staff from the Galveston District met with Port Authority officials to review and discuss federal projects currently under way and planned for the Houston area. Port Commissioners Theldon Branch III, Stephen H. DonCarlos and Roy D. Mease were on hand to welcome Lt. Gen.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has furnished the Port Authority its draft permit for the Bayport Channel Improvement project, Executive Director Roger Guenther reported to the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority today. The draft permit for Barbours Cut channel dredging will follow soon, he said. The projects at the Port Authority’s two container terminals, which will deepen the channels from 40 feet to 45 feet to match the depth of the Houston Ship Channel, are expected to begin shortly. Reporting on a recent Audit Committee meeting, Port Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria said the financial statement audit of the Port Authority for the fiscal year ended December 31…

Notable accomplishments in revenue generation, cargo throughput, professional performance and international recognition highlighted today's monthly meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority (PHA). Executive Director Roger Guenther, in his first meeting since being named to the post, characterized January's numbers as "a very exciting start to the new year" with operating revenue of more than $20 million. Guenther cited across-the-board increases in all major areas of cargo as the driver behind a 3-million-ton month for January, which was 15 percent higher than the year before. A contributor to that January figure was 400…

Global maritime IT services company, Versiant, says that its Lynx™ mobile software solution has been installed by the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) providing real-time accurate information for their customers at Barbours Cut and Bayport Terminals. By this means, customers are now able to verify container availability, view vessel schedules, review bookings and retrieve gate EIRs prior to arriving at the terminal, with an intuitive user interface, simply by using virtually any mobile device.

Petrobras’ P-55 Floating Production Unit (FPU), the largest and the first of this kind entirely built in Brazil, is on its way to the Roncador Field, Campos Basin, where it will be installed in a water depth of 1,790 metres. The column stabilized semi-submersible has a capacity of 180,000 bopd and 6,000,000 cu m of gas. The unit is classed by Bureau Veritas. BV group companies also provided a wide range of verification and support services which made the major project possible.

PHA Signs Memorandum of Friendship & Trade Cooperation With Port of Marseille-Fos, Provence Promotion Economic Development Agency. Finances are very strong for August, Executive Director Len Waterworth shared in his report to the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority at its monthly meeting today. "I am very pleased to announce that we had another $20 million+ month, that's four out of eight this year, extremely good," Waterworth said. Waterworth also reported August's net income of $11 million, up $7 million or 212 percent.

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.

Tonnage is up this year at the Port of Houston Authority, with container tonnage through May up by 9%, Executive Director Len Waterworth reported at Tuesday's meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. Waterworth also reported that May operating revenue was at an all-time high of $20 million, up 4% or $800,000. This marked the first time in Port Authority history that operating revenue has exceeded $20 million. Year-to-date operating revenue of $96 million reflects a $4 million or 5% increase, again driven by strong container growth.

The Port of Houston maintains its position as Brazil's largest U.S. compiled statistics show. From 2010 to 2012, the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) handled a total of 311,314 twenty-foot equivalent units of trade with Brazil. In 2012, PHA's market share was 17 percent of the total trade with Brazil, according to statistics compiled from the Journal of Commerce's PIERS data. Brazil is South America's largest economy and has shown potential forfurther growth. Houston's trade with Brazil has increased due to U.S.

At a briefing held Wednesday at the Port of Houston Authority, U.S. McCaul chose the port as the site to host the briefing on security and emergency preparedness to illustrate the importance of the Port of Houston to the nation's economy and energy security. The Port of Houston is home to the largest petrochemical manufacturing complex in the United States and second largest in the world. McCaul met with Port of Houston Authority officials as well as Houston, Harris County and…

Konecranes ordered to provide eight advanced design RTG (Rubber Tired Gantry) container terminal cranes to Port of Houston Authority. This is the second Konecranes fuel-saving RTG delivery for PHA, which already has 49 Konecranes RTGs in its terminals. The cranes will be delivered in autumn 2013. The value of the order is not disclosed. The Port of Houston is the number one port in the United States in foreign waterborne tonnage, and handles nearly 230 million tons of cargo a year. The Port Authority owns and/or operates nine public terminals along the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel.

The Houston Maritime Museum (HMM) has elected new officers to its Board of Directors. Niels A. Aalund, Senior Vice President of Maritime Affairs for the West Gulf Maritime Association, (WGMA) will serve as Chairman to advocate on behalf of the WGMA members with local, state and federal agencies. Steve Stewart, President and Co-Founder of Gulf Winds International, Inc., will serve as Vice Chairman for the board, specializing in international logistics within the shipping industry. He is actively involved in numerous associations in and around Houston. Michelle C. Hundley, J.D., Manager of Community Relations at Port of Houston Authority, will serve as Secretary for the board. Hundley is responsible for advancing PHA’s corporate social responsibility initiatives.

The Port of Houston Authority and Maersk Line, which partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the first-ever low-sulfur “fuel switch” demonstration on a container ship in the Gulf of Mexico last November, have been selected to receive a nearly $1.5m grant from the National Clean Diesel Program. Funded by the National Clean Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, the grant will pay the differential costs incurred when Maersk Line vessels switch from high-sulfur bunker fuel to lower-sulfur marine diesel while approaching Texas waters.

The Port of Houston Authority, along with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the Harris County Supplemental Environmental Program and the Harris County Flood Control District, has launched the trash skimmer Mighty Tidy, a vessel specially designed to skim litter and debris from Buffalo Bayou. "The Port Authority is proud to deliver an innovative solution to the problem of visual pollution we have experienced along Buffalo Bayou," said Jim Edmonds, PHA chairman. Funded in part by a joint grant from the Harris County Supplemental Environmental Program and the Harris County Flood Control District, the skimmer will be in operation five days a week along the banks of the bayou from Shepherd Drive to the East Loop 610.

The Pha Rung Shipbuilding Industrial Company, a member of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industrial Economic Group (VINASHIN), on January 27 launched the construction of three shipbuilding and repair factories which are considered to be the biggest in Vietnam so far. These include the Yen Hung Shipbuilding Factory, the Sea Ship Repairing Factory in Yen Hung Supporting Industry Complex and the Pha Rung VINASHIN-MAN Engine Manufacturing Factory. Total cost for construction of the three factories is put at VND 4.5 trillion. According to Mr Nguyen Van Hoc, General Director of the Pha Rung Shipbuilding Industrial Company, with the construction of the Pha Rung VINASHIN-MAN Engine Manufacturing Factory, Vietnam will become the fourth country in the world to manufacture sea ship engines.

In 2007, the Port of Houston Authority achieved its eighth consecutive year of record-breaking operating revenue. Year-end numbers project that the PHA increased operating revenue by $24 million, or 14 percent, over the previous year. “We could not have reached this achievement without the leadership of our dedicated port commissioners and port staff, who have remained committed to the business priorities that serve as the benchmark to the measurement of our success,” said PHA Executive Director H. Thomas Kornegay, who gave the presentation at the January 22 Port Commission meeting. The eight system-wide priority areas in which PHA achieved record-breaking success are: economic impact…

Kongsberg Maritime has signed a contract to supply Integrated Monitoring and Control Systems for five new 13,000 Dwt Product/Chemical carriers being built for Greek owner IASON Hellenic Shipping Co. Ltd at the Vinashin Group owned Pha Rung Shipyard in , east of the Vietnamese capital . The Kongsberg Maritime integrated monitoring and control concept chosen by Vinashin Group against strong competition includes an integrated solution for machinery control and cargo management.

Port  of Houston Authority facilities resumed normal operations at all terminals yesterday in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. PHA was granted U.S. Coast Guard clearance for all of its facilities last Wednesday and employees reported back to work. PHA opened its Barbours Cut, Bayport and Turning  Basin terminals on Sept. 20, from 8 a.m. until noon, and 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. For more information, please go to the PHA Web site, www.portofhouston.com