Roger Guenther News

Earlier this year, 30-year Port Houston veteran Jeff Davis announced his retirement as Chief Port Operations Officer. The port's Executive Director Roger Guenther has subsequently announced the promotion of two long-term, well-regarded members of Port Houston’s executive leadership team to vital roles to ensure sustained operations and exceptional service.Ryan Mariacher, a 20-year employee and formerly Director of Container Terminal Operations, was promoted to Chief Port Operations Officer.

Leveraging its position as a Top 5 Container Port in the U.S., Port Houston will host its 2nd annual Houston International Maritime Conference (HIMC23) on October 30 – November 1, 2023. The conference will tackle broad maritime industry challenges and opportunities that will shape the entire global supply chain, with specific focus on Port Houston’s commitment to investment, growth and readiness for the future.“HIMC23 is designed to not only illustrate how Port Houston is in growth mode…

U.S. marine terminal and logistics company Enstructure announced Monday that it has acquired Richardson Companies, a terminal and logistics company with primary operations in  Port Houston and the Port of Mobile.Richardson handles a diverse mix of breakbulk cargoes, including steel products, forest products, and project cargo. The company operates approximately one million square feet of industrial warehousing in Houston, Baytown, Freeport, and Mobile.Following the acquisition…

The Houston Ship Channel expansion project, also known as Project 11, continues to make significant progress. Port officials announced that dredging of the first segment extending from Bolivar Roads to Redfish, known as Segment 1A, is complete. The work was completed on schedule and on budget.Project 11’s Segment 1A constitutes eleven and a half miles in the Bay. The expansion of this area is expected to help increase safety, reduce congestion, and improve vessel transit times…

The Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met in a special session and awarded two of the largest contracts in the organization’s history. The Commission approved the staff’s recommendation to award Weeks Marine and Curtin Maritime Corporation contracts totaling $430 million to complete the remaining Galveston Bay segments of the Houston Ship Channel expansion project.“It’s an exciting day for Port Houston and the entire region and the millions of people who rely on the Houston Ship Channel for their livelihood and to bring them essential goods,” Chairman Ric Campo said.

A $1 billion project to expand the Houston Ship Channel kicked off with an official ceremony last week, leading the way for greater safely, efficiency and economic growth in one of America’s busiest waterways.Known locally as Project 11 because it is the eleventh major construction project of the waterway in its more than 100-year history, the Houston Ship Channel expansion will widen the channel by 170 feet along its Galveston Bay reach, from 530 feet to 700 feet. It will also deepen some upstream segments to 46.5 feet…

Container volume at Port Houston in March totaled 308,557 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). That brings the total for just the first three months of 2022 to 903,383 TEUs, an increase of 20% year-to-date over last year’s record year.“Port Houston is constantly evaluating growth within the industry and developing innovative solutions to accommodate that growth,” Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther said. “We know that velocity of goods is of the utmost importance to our customers and we continue to evaluate our procedures and infrastructure to improve efficiency.”In March…

Port Houston recorded its seventh consecutive month of double-digit container volume growth as increased consumer spending continues in the U.S.Container activity for September 2021 was 281,500 TEUs, up 11% compared to the same month last year, the port said. Year-to-date, TEUs are up 16% compared to 2020.Port Houston said its steel imports are also up, increasing 161% this month compared to September 2020 and are up 28% year-to-date. This growth reflects increased activity in the energy industry.

A Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Port of Houston Authority (Port Houston) was formally presented for the Houston Ship Channel's billion-dollar widening and deepening program, Project 11.The PPA is the official document committing Port Houston to the responsibilities of the project as the local non-federal sponsor. It details the terms of the channel infrastructure expansion, and most significantly, permits the start of dredging the federal waterway.

Monthly cargo volumes at Port Houston declined in April as the coronavirus outbreak continued to impact commerce in the U.S. and across the world.Port Houston, the 6th largest container port in the U.S., handled a total of 221,540 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in April, down 12% from the 252,693 TEUs in April 2019. For the full year, however, Port Houston handled 994,627 TEUs through April, which is 5% more than the first four months of 2019.Total tonnage at Port Houston’s public facilities was down 10% in the month of April at 3,766,756 short tons, a decrease of 3% year-to-date.

Container volume at Port Houston surged in the first half of 2019, rising 12 percent compared to that period last year. According to the Executive Director Roger Guenther the port facilities have handled nearly 1.5 Million TEU through the first half of 2019.The Houston ship channel also said in a press release that , the Port Commission awarded a contract not to exceed $39.7 million to Archer Western Construction, the top-ranked proposer among four finalists. A total of 53 companies downloaded materials about the project.The planned expansion of the truck gate at Port Houston’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal is set to begin after approval of a contract for the work by the Port Commission, it said.The project consists of about 23 acres of new pavement at the existing Barbours Cut Terminal.

The international port of Texas, Port Houston, had a record-breaking 2018 as container volume through the port grew by double-digits.The port handled handled 2.7 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, a common industry measurement for containers, last year. That's up 10 percent from 2.46 million TEUs in 2017.Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther announced several records were broken in 2018, including that total tonnage at Port Houston facilities set a record of 35.7 million tons, which reflected an increase of 9 percent from 2017.“The strength of cargo activity helped drive Operating Revenue to $366 million for the year shattering the previous record set in 2017 of $333 million…

“Port Houston handled close to 10 million tons of total tonnage, reflecting an increase of eleven percent over 2016,” Port Houston Executive Director Roger Guenther announced during the April meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. During the first quarter of this year, Port Houston facilities handled 607,000 TEUs. Guenther said the majority of this increase is largely due to an increase in container volumes, which showed an increase of 18 percent.

The "Bronze Anchor Award" recognizes an individual, company or organization that has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to promoting the HISC mission and vision, and served as a leader and advocate for the welfare of seafarers. Guenther will be officially honored as a "Bronze Anchor Award" recipient at the HISC Maritime Gala to be held May 6, 2017. The gala will be held earlier in the year than normal and will coincide with the Seafarers' Center's upcoming move to a new location at the Port of Houston. Guenther has proven over the years to be an advocate of the Seafarers' Center and its mission. He has assisted Chaplains and HISC staff in navigating the regulatory and bureaucratic landscape associated with a working port…

“We fully expect to top last year’s container volume with another record year in 2016,” said Roger Guenther, Port of Houston Authority Executive Director, speaking to the Port Commission during its latest meeting. The Houston Port Authority said it has handled more than 1.6 million TEU through its container terminals to date this year, and it expects to maintain “strong growth” through the remainder of the year. All told, the port’s general cargo and container terminals handled more than 26 million tons of cargo through September.

In anticipation of increased opportunities for inbound consumer goods and outbound industrial commodities, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. have joined forces to operate a new direct all-water container service between the U.S Gulf and Asia. The new service by the 2M Alliance features the Lone Star Express by MSC and TP18 by Maersk. The first sailing is scheduled to depart Asia May 2, with Houston as the first U.S. inbound port call. The Lone Star/TP18 Gulf service will have a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Busan, Cristobal, Houston, Mobile and Miami.

In anticipation of increased opportunities for inbound consumer goods and outbound industrial commodities, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. have joined forces to operate a new direct all-water container service between the U.S Gulf and Asia. The new service by the 2M Alliance features the “Lone Star Express” by MSC and “TP18” by Maersk. The first sailing is scheduled to depart Asia May 2, with Houston as the first U.S. inbound port call. The Lone Star/TP18 Gulf service will have a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Busan, Cristobal, Houston, Mobile and Miami. The estimated inbound transit time to Houston is 26 days from Yantian and 23 days from Busan. The vessels deployed will have a capacity of about 4,500 twenty-foot–equivalent units (TEUs).

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…

The Port of Houston Authority last week commissioned the first of four new Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at its Barbours Cut Container Terminal. The four 30-story-high electric cranes are reportedly the largest ever constructed by Konecranes, and currently stand taller than any other marine cranes in North America, according to the port. The cranes were ordered by the Port of Houston Authority amid ongoing infrastructure expansion to prepare in part for the larger Post-Panamax container vessels that will call at the Port Authority’s facilities – part of a $1 billion five-year modernization plan that also includes dredging and land-side infrastructure and wharf improvements.

Activity across Port of Houston Authority docks continues to show strength as February 2015 tonnage figures reflected a 22-percent increase compared to February 2014. Executive Director Roger Guenther released the information today during the monthly meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. Guenther reported that the Port Authority's Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals were particularly busy. A combined 40 percent more loaded containers than a year ago was handled. ". . . Our sharp increases in container volume are not just from East Asian services and diversion from the West Coast," Guenther said. The Port Authority, which handled a record 37 million tons of cargo in 2014, moved more than six million tons through the first two months of this year.

The Port of Houston Authority is expecting 2014 to close as a banner year for the port, with 34 million tons of cargo handled through November, Executive Director Roger Guenther reported to the port commission of the Port of Houston Authority at its monthly meeting Tuesday. "Container volumes are on pace for a record year, and steel imports are set to surpass the previous tonnage highs set in 2008," Guenther said, adding that cargo operations for November reflect a 15 percent increase in container TEUs and an 82 percent growth in steel imports, year over year.

Blue skies and a cool breeze set the stage for a once-in-a-century event today: the 100th anniversary rededication of the opening of Houston's deep-water port. International Longshoremen's Association, Houston Pilots, U.S. Coast Guard, current and former Port Commissioners, industry stakeholders and others, attended the Houston Ship Channel Rededication at Brady's Landing overlooking the Houston Ship Channel. The event took place 100 years to the day of the original ceremony in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson fired a cannon by remote control from his office in Washington D.C. Katherine Lee Stacy, the great-great-granddaughter of Miss Sue Campbell, who took part in the original dedication ceremony by tossing a floral offering, reenacted the christening event.

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.