In win for energy industry, port limits large container ships in channel
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Port-Houston-limits-number-of-1-100-foot-vessels-13752765.phpApril 9, 2019
Commissioners for the Port of Houston Authority agreed Monday to limit the number of vessels measuring 1,100 feet or longer that can enter the Houston Ship Channel, a request pushed by energy companies fearing that especially large container ships will cause waterway traffic jams.
The adopted resolution will allow just one of these ships each week, where they will be restricted to one movement each day. That means a large container ship entering the channel one day could not leave until the next day.
This topic has been a point of contention for months. Houston Pilots, charged with guiding vessels in and out of the Houston Ship Channel, have enacted safety measures that only allow moving these vessels during the day. And the ship channel's typical two-way traffic is reduced to just one-way traffic when moving the larger container ships.
This prompted a group of energy companies to form the Coalition for a Fair and Open Port. It hired an outside firm that found one-way traffic and the growing use of large container ships could suppress the oil and gas industry's ability to grow at a time when the United States and Texas are poised to become exporting powerhouses.
"To put that channel on one-way traffic is going to choke off our ability to export what wants to be and needs to be exported," Jim Teague, CEO of Enterprise Products, said in December. Enterprise is a top exporter of crude oil and other petroleum products....
