Central Texas News

In August, the Port of Brownsville announced the appointment of two new deputy port directors effective August 9, 2021.Melinda Rodriguez is the deputy port director of administration and will oversee the port’s Human Resources, Real Estate Services, Finance, Communications and Administrative Services departments.Rodriguez has worked in a variety of leadership positions with organizations such as NextDecade, Texas Southmost College, Catholic Charities of Central Texas, United Way of Hidalgo County, March of Dimes, Cystic Fibrosis-Central Texas, and United Blood Services.

The Waco Fire Department has taken delivery of a custom-built Lake Assault Boats fireboat and rescue craft. The new vessel provides a wide range of emergency response services on Lake Waco (a 12-square-mile body of water located within the city limits) as well as a section of the Brazos River that flows through the department’s protection area in central Texas. The craft was purchased through Lake Assault Boats’ listings on GSA Advantage Schedule 84 that includes Marine Craft.A pair of 225 hp Honda outboard engines supplies power for the 26-foot craft.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has signed an agreement to sell its rough terrain handling business, Kalmar Rough Terrain Center (KRTC), to the management and a Texas-based investment group, led by Independent Bankers Capital Funds (IBCF) and Congruent Investment Partners, LLC (Congruent). The contract was signed and is effective as of 29 June 2018. Kalmar Rough Terrain Center is a specialised manufacturer of rough terrain material handling equipment for both the defense and commercial markets. It is also a manufacturer and distributor of parts and a service provider to existing equipment. Its portfolio includes the RT240 Rough Terrain Container Handler and the RT022 Light Capability Rough Terrain Forklift that are specially built to military standards…

Residents fleeing most powerful storm on U.S. mainland since 2005. Businesses closed and lines of cars streamed out of coastal Texas as officials called for residents to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Harvey, expected to arrive about midnight as the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade. The hurricane is forecast to slam first near Corpus Christi, Texas, drop flooding rains along the central Texas coast and potentially loop back over the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Houston, some models showed. "My urgent message to my fellow Texans is that if you live in a region where evacuation has been ordered, you need to heed that advice and get out of harm's way while you can," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a televised address.

Hurricane Harvey intensified early on Friday into potentially the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade, as authorities warned locals to shelter from what could be life-threatening winds and floods. Harvey is set to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday on the central Texas coast where Corpus Christi and Houston are home to some of the biggest U.S. refineries. Oil and gas operations have already been disrupted and gasoline prices have spiked. "Now is the time to urgently hide from the wind.

Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas. Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall. Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Bill punched the Texas coast with heavy rains and strong winds on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said, just three weeks after floods killed about 30 people in the state. The second named tropical storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall near Matagorda, a sportfishing town near the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station in Bay City, a coastal nuclear power plant. Spokesman Buddy Eller said the plant had prepared for the storm and operations were normal with full staffing. Companies said output from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, which pumps about a fifth of all domestic crude, was unaffected. But BP Plc shut its Mad Dog and Atlantis fields early on Tuesday after a pipeline outage that was expected to be fixed soon, a source said.

The Houston Ship Channel has been fully reopened today following Monday’s ship collision and subsequent salvage operations. The Houston Ship Channel was reopened Thursday morning after responders completed initial salvage plans on damaged chemical tanker Carla Maersk and moved the vessel to Barbour's Cut turning basin, the Central Texas Coastal Area Committee (CTCAC) reported. The Carla Maersk incurred significant damage following a collision earlier in the week between it and bulk carrier Conti Peridot.

Responders have begun to execute salvage plans for the damaged tanker Carla Maersk, Wednesday, following a collision that occurred Monday in the Houston Ship Channel, the Central Texas Coastal Area Committee (CTCAC) reported. The plans include utilizing high-density foam to suppress any flammable vapor seeping from the punctured tanks. Once the foam is in place, responders will monitor the air for any flammable vapors. If deemed safe, responders will commence the removal of liquid cargo. Once the liquid cargo has been removed and the structural integrity of the vessel has been deemed safe for movement, the Carla Maersk will be moved from the Houston Ship Channel to a safe berthing area. Air and water tests continue to show no public health or environmental concerns, responders said.

At the upcoming Breakbulk Americas Event in Houston, Mammoet will present its partnership with Port Freeport, Texas. With this partnership, Mammoet intends to take its factory-to-foundation service to the next level. Mammoet’s factory-to-foundation service aims to ensure that large and heavy construction components, often sourced from suppliers throughout the world, are transported from the manufacturer to their final destination according to plan. With the Freeport Terminal, Mammoet has added an accessible port to its global network of terminals.

The US Department of Defense inform that Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas, is being awarded a $9,410,083 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm fixed-price task orders contract for the provision of education courses to sailors, both instructor led and distance learning, to include courses for academic skills, undergraduate and graduate levels. The contract will include a one-year base period and four one-year option periods, which if exercised, will bring the amount to $48,898,382. Work will be performed onboard various Navy ships (64 percent); San Diego, California (15 percent); Norfolk, Virginia (15 percent); Mayport, Florida (2 percent); Bremerton/Everett, Washington (2 percent); and Yokosuka, Japan (2 percent), and work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2015.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has authorized limited marine traffic in the safety zone in the Port of Houston/Galveston for commercial ship traffic, Tuesday. Cleanup operations are still ongoing; however ships are being prioritized for transit by the Port Coordination Team. The USCG said barges are allowed to transit through the Houston Ship Channel and on the Intracoastal Waterway, after assessment teams deemed the channel clear. "The cleanup operations progress is to the point…

PARTNERSHIP FORMS AN ALLIANCE OF COOPERATION TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH. In what is touted to be another one of a series of new agreements with U.S. ports, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and Port Freeport in Texas established a strategic alliance today with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The partnership aims to increase international trade and create new business by promoting the all-water-route between Asia and the Gulf of Mexico of the United States through Port Freeport via the Panama Canal. Intended to last for one year, the partnership is renewable upon request of both parties. Under the conditions of the MOU, the parties have agreed to undertake joint initiatives to stimulate economic growth.

Sea Tow Services International, the world’s largest professional marine assistance organization, welcomed Rear Admiral William Baumgartner, the Coast Guard’s 7th District Commander, and Captain David McBride, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Chief of Search of Rescue, to its annual awards ceremony and dinner on Dec. 2, 2010, as part of the company’s 28th Annual Meeting held Dec. 1-3, 2010, in Delray Beach, Fla. Together with Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer, Sea Tow’s founder/CEO, RADM Baumgartner and CAPT McBride presented eight Sea Tow captains with Awards for Efforts Above and Beyond. RADM Baumgartner also presented the Sea Tow captains with his challenge coin, a military honor rooted in the U.S. Navy that acknowledges the receiver’s courage, strength, leadership and commitment to duty.