Board Of Pilot Commissioners For Harris County Ports News

No less than 15 shipping companies, many of them top 10 liner companies, have written to Port of Houston Chairman Janice Longoria to reject the latest call for substantial rate hikes on the Houston Ship Channel. Local pilots already earn salaries that approach $500,000 annually.Like any other major U.S. port, registered foreign flag vessels must use a local state pilot on the Houston Ship Channel. According to local shipping stakeholders, the rates for those mandated services have spiraled more than 50% in the past 14 years alone.The rate increase proposal, a seemingly regular event at most U.S. ports over time, has on this occasion, struck a raw nerve at precisely the wrong time for industry.

The port commissioners, sitting as the Board of Pilot Commissioners for Harris County Ports, are considering a proposed 3.5% increase in pilotage rates for the Houston Pilots. Interested parties will make oral presentations at a public hearing on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 9 am. The public hearing will be held on the 4th Floor of the Port of Houston Authority Building, 111 East Loop North, Houston, Texas  77029. houstonpilotboard.com