August 2015 Port Bureau News

Port Bureau August 2015

Greater Houston Port Bureau

News

The Man Behind Harborlights

Spotlight On David Morrell www.txgulf.org

Port Bureau

News

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Publisher/President CAPT Bill Diehl, USCG (Ret.), P.E. Editor Christine Schlenker Copy Editors Christine Schlenker Judith Schultz

3 Captain’s Corner Coast Guard Day

4 Port Watch

Just the Normal Summer Slackening - for Now

6 Port Bureau

20 Spotlight on

CAPT Malcolm (Rob) McLellan, Deputy Sector Commander, USCG

26 New CLM Towing

Updates

Pushboat Christened in Houston

10 The Man Behind

28 Schooling Fish Stall

Harborlights

Spotlight on David Morrell

Ships on Houston Ship Channel

16 Flooding

32 Port Bureau Traffic

Impacts on Inland Waterways

Guest Article from CRA

Efficiency Committee Update

34 Commerce Club

Featuring Edwin Bastian, Global Sales Director, BBC Chartering USA Like us on Facebook facebook.com/portbureau 2

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Art Director Kyle Beam Writers Kyle Beam Christine Schlenker Judith Schultz Patrick Seeba Photographer Kyle Beam Cover Photos Kyle Beam Port Bureau Staff Jeannie Angeli Kolin Beam Dave Cooley Al Cusick Megan Essenmacher Cristina Gomez Janette Molina Elizabeth Sandefur Printing Company DiPuma Printing and Promotional Products www.dipuma.com For information about the Port Bureau: Phone: (713) 678-4300 Email: info@txgulf.org For information about the Port Bureau News stories or advertising: Email: editor@txgulf.org

Captain's Corner Coast Guard Day

Coast Guard Day is August 4, 2015, and marks the service’s 225th anniversary.

The day provides an opportunity to reflect upon history and to acknowledge the value of the Coast Guard’s service to our community. When Alexander Hamilton created the Coast Guard, he directed the first Revenue Cutter Captains to ensure the safety of life at sea, preserve our maritime sovereignty, and facilitate maritime commerce while treating our countrymen with respect. Hamilton, known as the father of the Coast Guard, understood the value a coastal maritime presence would have to the new nation.

As our national interests changed, the Coast Guard’s missions expanded. Another key figure who played a major role in Coast Guard history was Ellsworth Bertholf.

Bertholf became the Captain-Commandant of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1911 and contended with a Presidential Commission that recommended splintering the service because it was too multi-functional.

Bertholf countered that a multi-mission agency would achieve greater efficiencies and successfully lobbied with the Secretary of the Treasury to merge the Revenue

Cutter Service with the agency called the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Combining military cuttermen with civilian lifesavers was a daunting task, but he made it work.

In 1915 our modern Coast Guard was born. So, not only should we be celebrating Hamilton’s vision 225 years ago, but also Bertholf ’s leadership 100 years ago.

Over the years Coast Guard missions broadened into 11 areas: ports, waterways, and coastal security; drug interdiction; aids to navigation; search and rescue; living marine resources; marine safety; defense readiness; migrant interdiction; marine environmental protection; ice operations; and other law enforcement. Most of the Coast Guard summarizes them as safety, security, and stewardship. To me, however, all of the missions dovetail into one basic goal: saving lives.

Houston has always recognized the value of the Coast Guard. Earlier this year Port Bureau member companies, Buffalo Marine Service, the Houston Pilots, Intercontinental Terminals Company, and Schröder Marine Services, held a recognition luncheon for the Coast Guard and Customs and Border

CAPT Bill Diehl, USCG (Ret.), P.E. Protection (CBP). Port Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria was the key note speaker and highlighted the value of both agencies to the port community.

There have been other events recognizing the Coast Guard, including one on January 15 of this year, held by the Coast Guard Foundation, an organization supporting Coast Guard members and their families. By the way, the Coast Guard Foundation is planning a tribute dinner for the Coast Guard next year on May 13, 2016, at the Houstonian Hotel. If you would like to be involved, let me know and I’ll get your name to the organizers.

In the meantime, please take a moment to thank our local Coast Guard men and women when you see them. Reflecting back on my own Coast Guard days, times of appreciation were very meaningful moments for my family and me. The little town of Grand Haven, Michigan, located on the shores of Lake Michigan, hosts an annual 10-day event honoring the Coast Guard and over 350,000 people attend it. I had the honor of attending in uniform, with my family, several times and always came away from it super-charged to serve. I know many others felt the same.

The Greater Houston Port Bureau salutes the U.S. Coast Guard, especially Sector Houston-Galveston, on your 225th birthday. We wish you an uneventful day and thank you for your work that helps keep us safer, more secure, and eco-conscience as we pursue economic success.

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© Christine Schlenker

PORT WATCH Just the Normal Summer Slackening for Now

Tom Marian, Buffalo Marine Service

A stagnant China? A cash strapped Greece? Too much oil? Nah, just the normal summer slackening - for now.

The final month of the first six was that long exhale which follows a flurry of activity on the waterfront. Indeed, the first two months of the current quarter have been a great run for the bulk of the Lone Star State’s waterways. However, in all things economic, upward trajectories are never constant. At some point the lull gains the upper hand. So it was in June as the total vessel arrivals for the state dropped by more than 5%. Not unexpectedly, nearly every port suffered a decline in terms of vessel movements but, all things considered, the June of 2015’s raw numbers remained above those of the last decade.

The two ports that managed to eke out gains in June were Freeport and Sabine.

Freeport was up nearly 7% from May to June. Unfortunately, it is the only Texas port with vessel arrival numbers that are double digits below those of 2014 – 18% to be more precise. Sabine, on the other hand, posted

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double digit gains for the month (10%) and remains almost 4% above 2014’s vessel count. As an aside, Sabine took top honors this month.

Sabine’s antithesis this month was the Port of Brownsville which registered the most dramatic monthly plunge of over 35%. Fortunately, the gains of the previous five months have resulted in Brownsville outpacing 2014’s number by more than

17%. While the port is on the smaller side, and consequently vulnerable to large percentage swings when a handful of ships exceed or are below a previous month’s tally, the continued soft rig count throughout the shale gas fields appears to be a longer term phenomena. This is somewhat bolstered by the Port of Corpus Christi whose vessel count waned by 5% for the month. On an annualized basis, Corpus Christi lost

Texas Ports Deep Draft Vessel Arrivals June 2015 Year-to-Date Percent Change BROWNSVILLE, 17.8% CORPUS CHRISTI, 4.1% FREEPORT, -18.1% GALVESTON, 10.8% HOUSTON, 4.7%

PORT LAVACA, -5.3% SABINE, 3.7% TEXAS CITY, -1.3% GRAND TOTAL, 3.2%

port watch

Port of Houston Deep Draft Vessel Arrivals

June 2015 vs. June 2014

further ground with 2015 netting 4% more arrivals than the first half of 2014.

The Port of Galveston was the only other port that experienced monthly double digit vessel arrival losses, just shy 25%.

Galveston – like Corpus Christi – had its weakest month in June; albeit, Galveston’s June numbers were dramatically below any previous month for the year (i.e., beat June by 20%). The silver lining is that Galveston has improved upon last year’s vessel calls by 11%. A mere ten miles to the northwest, the Port of Texas City enjoyed a relatively solid month with one less vessel. To date, the port has nearly equaled 2014’s vessel arrival pace with 1% fewer vessels for the year. The gains of the last three months have been very solid and reflect increased activity at a number of its oil terminals.

The Port of Houston – despite a 7% arrival fall – managed to handle over 700 vessel arrivals in June. Consequently, it remains 5% above 2014’s first six months.

Given the fact that there were 54 fewer vessels calling upon the port from May to June, it should come as no surprise that nearly every vessel category ended below May’s count. The sole outlier: LPG tankers. These BTU behemoths took top honors for the month and the first half of

the year with a 13% monthly climb and 24% year-to-date rally. Chemical tankers are rebounding in sharp fashion this year with a 22% rise. This second-most-frequent caller of the port was a paltry 1.5% below May’s strong showing. Tankers – the most active of the vessel types that transit to and from Houston – had a pronounced decline in June – over 9%. Nevertheless, the first two quarters of 2015 topped that of 2014 by roughly 3%. It appears that market forces are introducing greater uncertainty into this particular category as global distillate demand slackens and the nation’s crude stockpiles remain consistently high.

Beyond energy, container vessel calls were 14% below that of the previous month and accordingly are hanging on to a wisp of gain (i.e., 0.6%) as compared to 2014.

This is becoming increasingly deceptive as the Bayport container terminal continues to handle much larger ships carrying far more containers. The same is not necessarily true for general cargo vessels and bulkers, given that their hull sizes have been relatively static over the last several years. Needless to say, these two categories ended the month in the red, to wit, 14%. Interestingly, they are both 4% below 2014’s count. Car carriers and oceangoing tows are also off for

the year, although, both vessel types equaled their May performance.

Perhaps one of the more interesting vessel statistics for the month was posted by the brownwater community. As usual, nearly 12,000 tows plied the Houston Ship Channel and its adjacent waterways in June. Granted, there were 0.6% fewer of these transits vis-à-vis May but the overall picture remains very healthy as reflected in a year-to-date upward trajectory of well over 10%. What makes this so heartening is that the tow activity in the Gulf inland region remains quite healthy despite talk of too many tank barges chasing too few contracts.

It could very well be that such pessimistic chatter is well-founded as the movement of crude oil from the heartland via barge tapers or the demand for the barges to transport chemicals, distillates, and various combinations thereof falls. Yet, the inland maritime machine keeps chugging along regardless of a volatile Dow Jones, manufacturing index uncertainly, and a host of other indices that are less than positive on both the domestic and international front. Perhaps none of this really matters as another sweltering summer settles in and we all await the inevitable fall rebound.

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port bureau updates

September 2015 Commerce Club Mark your calendar now for the Port Bureau’s September 10 Commerce Club luncheon headlining Roger Guenther, Executive Director, Port of Houston Authority, as guest speaker. Guenther stepped into his present position in January 2014 after 26 years of experience, operational leadership, and a proven track record at the Port Authority.

Prior to his current role as Executive Director, Guenther served as Deputy Executive Director of Operations and oversaw all container and break bulk cargo operations, management and construction of capital development projects, facility and asset maintenance, and real estate interests.

A native of Baytown, Texas, he grew up close to the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Houston. Guenther earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA in International Trade and Finance from the University of St. Thomas. He and his family currently reside in Pearland.

Thank you to our current Premier Sponsors Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., and Richardson Companies, and our table sponsors Excargo Services, Inc., Houston Mooring Co., Houston Pilots, Moran Gulf Shipping Agencies, Port of Houston Authority, Schröder Marine Services, Inc., and West Gulf Maritime Association.

Sponsor a table or reserve your spot today by calling the Port Bureau at (713) 678-4300 or visiting www.txgulf.org/commerceclub.php.

Port Bureau Upcoming Events The Port Bureau is excited

to host our 86th Annual Maritime Dinner Honoring ExxonMobil on August 22 at the Bayou City Event Center. The event sold out in May, with 820 guests registered to attend. Highlights of our elegant evening include presentations by City of Baytown Mayor and Port Commissioner Stephen DonCarlos; Frances Dyess, president of the East End Chamber of Commerce; Harris County Precinct Two Commissioner Jack Morman; Port of Houston Authority Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria; and Neil Chapman, president of ExxonMobil Chemical. Limited underwriting and silent auction sponsorships are still available – please call (713) 678-4300 now or visit www.txgulf.org/annualdinner.php to learn more.

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The Greater Houston The Port Bureau is hosting Coffee Association, in a special December Commerce Club to

conjunction with the Port Bureau, will host their annual luncheon on October 7, 2015, at Brady’s Landing. Coffee roaster and entrepreneur Ragan Bond of Independence Coffee Company in Brenham, Texas, is the featured speaker. He and his wife Christi began small-batch roasting in 2002, producing 2,000 pounds of experimental roasts. By 2011, they were roasting over 150,000 pounds of high grown Arabica coffees from 13 different producing countries and growing regions. Their customers range from individual website orders to large grocery markets such as H.E.B. and Whole Foods Market. The Houston region is home to more than 50 coffee-related companies and more than 160 companies operating in Texas. With over one-third of the market, the Port of Houston is the only certified coffee exchange port west of the Mississippi River. Join sponsors ACM Logistics and Consulting, Inc., Cadeco Industries, Dupuy Storage Houston, Gulf Winds International, and Houston Pilots.

celebrate the career of Capt. Mike Morris of the Houston Pilots. Capt. Morris plans to step down as Presiding Officer of the Houston Pilots in December leading up to his retirement in Spring 2016. Capt. Morris has spent 41 years in the maritime industry, including 21 years as a Houston Pilot and over 20 years with Exxon, 13 of which he was a Master. He is in his second term as the Houston Pilots Presiding Officer, was president of the Texas State Pilots Association, and has served several local, state, and national advisory committees. He was also the Port Bureau’s 2005 Maritime Person of the Year. Capt. Morris will share his reflections and best sea stories from his long and successful maritime career. Join our Premier sponsors the Houston Pilots and our table sponsors Blades International, Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., Houston Mooring Co., Moran Gulf Shipping Agencies, Richardson Companies, Schröder Marine Services, Inc., Shell (US) Trading Company, and Suderman & Young Towing.

Join Our Sponsors Today www.txgulf.org/annualdinner.php (713) 678-4300 Current 2015 Maritime Dinner Sponsors Queen of the Fleet

Admiral

Charles Flournoy

ACM Logistics Argosy Transportation Group BDP International Blades International Blank Rome LLC Ceres Gulf Amegy Bank Atlantic RoRo Carriers Bay-Houston Towing Company Biehl & Co. Briggs & Veselka BGE | Brown & Gay Engineers Inc Clark Freight Danner’s Inc Equipment Depot Excargo Services

Valet Sponsor

Bar Sponsor

Floral Sponsor

Photo Sponsor

Wine Pull

Houston Mooring Co.

Commodore Kinder Morgan Cooper/T. Smith KPI Bridge Oil Deloitte Services LP Manchester Terminal Frost Bank Moran Gulf Shipping Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Odfjell Houston Mooring Co. Schröder Marine Service Inchcape Shipping Services

Captain

GAC Shipping Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith Gardere Wynne Sewell Gulf Stream Marine Hapag Lloyd HDR, Inc. HUB Int’l Insurance Services Inbesa America Intertek JPMorgan Chase

Premier

Kirby Inland Marine MidSouth Bank Norton Lilly International Parsons Corporation Ports America Port of Galveston Port of Houston Authority Port Terminal Railroad Association Port of Texas City Rickmers-Linie America

Silent Auction

Silver

Amegy Bank Athena Gun Club Becker Vineyards Braeburn Central Healthcare Couture House Rentals Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and Platinum Winery Alley Theatre Eastham, Bradford Renaissance Portraits Watson, Dale Burleson & Fourney Excargo HDR Laboratoria Engineering, Gold Inc. Annabeth & Mike Logistics LLC Houston Photography Houston Pilots Ballet Blades Intermarine Houston Pilots International, Inc. Stages Repertory Houston Charles Flournoy Theatre Symphony Crane Worldwide

Suderman & Young Towing

Shamrock Marine Suderman & Young Towing Targa Resources University of Houston Downtown - College of Business Vopak

The Houstonian Hotel Innovative Images ITC Kendra Scott La Torretta Lake Resort Maida’s Belts & Buckles L&D Events Maison Maison Manchester Terminal Marie Hansell Nolan Richardson Peli Peli Sheraton Houston Brookhollow Todd Glass Art

Decor Sponsor Odfjell

Royston Rayzor Vickery & Williams SAGCD ILA San Jacinto College Shrader Engineering Texas A&M Galveston

Texas Mooring Watco Co. Greens Port West Gulf Maritime Association Bronze

Amy’s Ice Cream Anonymous Artisans Restaurant Boudreaux’s Cajun Kitchen Children’s Museum of Houston Cordua Restaurants Eddie V’s Prime Seafood Flat Creek Estate Houston Jewelry Mark’s American Cuisine Maricopa Riverside Messina Hof Winery and Resort Natural Bridge Caverns Nothing Bundt

Cakes Queen of Heirs Jewelry Taste of Texas The Barkery The Houston Museum of Natural Science New Orleans Museum of Art No Label Brewing Texas Renaissance Festival Tony Mandola’s Tradicao Brazilian Steakhouse University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance Warehouse Live Water2Wine Wet ‘n’ Wild Splashtown

Media Sponsor Clark Freight Crane Worldwide Logistics LLC

Honoree Gift

Manchester Terminal

port bureau updates

Port Bureau Member News AllTrans Port Trucking Wins National Safety Award

AllTrans Port Trucking, Inc. was presented a Platinum Award by Great West Casualty Company as part of the 2014 National Safety Awards Program. This is the second year in a row that AllTrans has won this elite award. The National Safety Awards Program recognizes carriers in similar operations (truckload and less than truckload) with awards based on their year-end preventable accident results. The program drew over 675 participants from across the country this past year.

Argosy Transportation Group Managing Cedar Bayou Dock

Argosy Transportation Group announced on June 29, 2015, their exclusive agreement to manage Cedar Bayou Barge Dock, located north of Baytown on State Highway 146 and Cedar Bayou. The 4.5 acres of land is secured for short and long term cargo storage and provides direct deep water access for Roll On/Roll Off operations. Projects in development in and around the industrial Baytown area are easily accessible from the Cedar Bayou Barge Dock. Argosy Transportation is a maritime transportation company specializing in break bulk, heavy lift, and industrial projects.

President of South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District ILA Steps Down

At the ILA, AFL-CIO 54th Quadrennial Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Clyde Fitzgerald stepped down as president of the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District (SAGCD), effective August 1, 2015. Alan Robb, previously SAGCD vice president, was unanimously voted as Fitzgerald’s replacement and as the ILA’s assistant general organizer. Another long-time ILA official from Houston, Benny Holland, stepped down from the ILA’s executive vice president position. Charles Montgomery, president of ILA Local 1351, was elected to serve as vice president on the SAGCD. Both Fitzgerald and Holland have stated that they intend to remain active with the organization as advisers.

Read all these member stories in detail and learn more member news at www.txgulf.org/pressrelease.php.

Preview of the September Issue of the Port Bureau News

Spotlight on Houston’s Harbor Tugs with Bay-Houston Towing, G&H Towing, and Suderman & Young Towing Second Quarter Trade Statistics Guest Article from StormGeo: Fog Impacts on Shipping in the Houston Ship Channel 8

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Partners with the Greater Houston Port Bureau

Port & Terminal Management Training Houston, November 2nd – 6th, 2015 Hosted at the Greater Houston Port Bureau

THE PROGRAM THAT BENEFITS YOU ALSO BENEFITS YOUR WHOLE ORGANIZATION 17 Learning modules over 5 days

Take part in this 5 day training program that will enhance your management skills and give you and your organization a competitive edge WHAT DO YOU LEAVE WITH? • Enhanced management skills to bring back to your terminals, ports or maritime operations.

• Real world knowledge of port and terminal operation and management • Tools and knowledge to be able to advance in your organization • Interconnectedness with a global network of port management professionals • Knowledge about the five key areas affecting port management today

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? • Port authority directors and executives • Terminal Managers • Port stakeholders including municipal, provincial and federal government officials • Shipping company agents • International transportation companies • Importers and exporters • Dockyard, navy, and military personnel • Coast guard officials • Intermodal, global and marine organizations

Being CPE Certified Starts here! Visit our NEW Website CertifiedPortExecutive.com

register by email at registration@macdonnell.com or call 902.425.3980

The Man Behind Harborlights

By Christine Schlenker and Judith Schultz GHPB

spotlight: Morrell

David Morrell, the creator of Harborlights, has revolutionized the maritime industry with his vessel tracking software.

As the founder of Mare Liberum positive and never had an ill word to speak Consulting, David Morrell is best known of about anyone or anything. Granddad had around the Houston Ship Channel as the to stop hauling lumber at 81 and passed on inventor of the Harborlights Vessel Tracking at age 83. Granddad taught me to be positive System. David grew up the second of five and patient.”

His mother Margaret taught her children in Humble, Texas, and learned the values of family, hard work, and perseverance children by example to work hard and persevere in the face of adversity. After his from a young age.

When reminiscing about his early role father sustained a work-related injury and models, David needed to look no further than was no longer working, his mother left her his own family. His paternal grandfather, role as a housewife to provide for the family.

Rufus, hauled lumber as a contractor and “Mom,” David continued, “through her hard worked almost every day of his adult life. work and fantastic work ethic transitioned “I have never seen a man work harder,” from housewife to management in daycare. said David. “His outlook on life was always Her development took our family out of

near poverty to opening up opportunities that shaped my future in computers.”

David credits Dan, his older brother, best friend, and mentor, with helping him learn how to work through the tough times.

“Dan taught me that with lots of heart, any adversity, anything can be overcome.”

As a teen, David started working on weekends with his neighbor who owned an electronics repair business, purchasing and repairing televisions, radios, and stereos.

Over the course of a couple of years, David’s knowledge of analog circuits and testing equipment, such as oscilloscopes and voltage and amperage meters, was very proficient.

After David graduated from Humble High School, his family relocated to Santa Clara, California, and he enrolled in West Valley College. His studies in Electronics and Semiconductor Development supplemented his practical experience with education in electronics and entry level programming in COBOL and FORTRAN. While still a student, David found work in the newlydeveloping Silicon Valley at Addington Laboratories. His position as a laboratory technician exposed him to a broad range of semiconductor development, from the assembly line of creating semiconductor components to developing semiconductor circuits from silicon wafers. His new knowledge of building digital electronic components greatly increased his skills in applying analog and digital designs to applications such as analog to digital convertors used to interface older computer systems and peripherals to the newer personal computers.

Although jobs were plentiful in Silicon Valley, David saw that opportunities in the computer industry in Houston were growing. In 1979, he took a job with National Cash Register (NCR) in Houston.

However, David spent the first eight months in Dayton, Ohio, for factory training on the assembly and support of NCR’s new Criterion computer systems.

Once training was complete, David returned to Houston to maintain NCR

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spotlight: Morrell computers for major retailers Foley’s and K-mart. With his background in circuit board repair, David was able to fix or even improve the computer systems under his care.

Just a year later in 1980, David found a position with IBM in Houston to service and support 1950s-1960s technology mainframe computers. While at the time his NCR coworkers thought learning outdated technology was a bad career move, David feels it was one of the best decisions he ever made. “Learning the oldest commercial computer technology gave me a complete understanding of how computers work from a hardware and software perspective,” stressed David.

Working with a computer that filled an entire office floor, rows of tape drives stacked side-by-side and as big as refrigerators, and printers the size of Volkswagens, some operators wore roller skates in order to keep up with tape reel swapping and printer paper feeding. Although technology has undergone a revolution, David says little has changed in the principle of how computers work. “Computers still have a central processor to process data, random access memory to hold and cache data, controllers to manage the flow of data, storage devices to permanently record data, and peripheral devices to view and report processed data results,” he says. “What continues to change are the size, speed, integration, and storage capacity of computers.”

A pivotal point in David’s career emerged when the technology to use a charged coupled device (CCD) to capture streaming images became available on the consumer market. David saw the potential to pair this technology with a small plotter, efficiently digitizing resistivity well logs for paper charts used in the oil industry, a process that was being done manually at the time. Working predominantly in his garage, David designed, produced, and supported a well log scanner device. Soon, David was invited to work with a team in Cork, Ireland, to develop a system that could capture well

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logs quickly, accurately, and with state of the art analyzing software. Mare Liberum Consulting was born.

In the mid ‘80s the price of oil fell precipitously, making David doubt his job security in the business of digitizing well logs.

The job also required frequent travel, and he and his wife were expecting their second baby. However, a new opportunity soon had David converting the computer system and software for the Texas State 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals in Houston. By working

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Spotlight: Morrell to convert their proprietary software, he also gained significant experience developing intuitive user interfaces which would prove valuable later in his career.

Other doors opened for David when a contact in the courts introduced him to the

LifeGift Foundation. LifeGift oversees the transfer of organs from a donor to a recipient, and the organization needed a system to monitor the national organ database and begin tracking and recording matched organs. David designed and implemented

a system, still in use today, which eases the administrative load of paperwork and billing, creating a more efficient and timelier process.

In tandem with developing the new LifeGift system, a chance encounter with a high school friend allowed David insight into another new field: pipe distribution.

Because of the huge variety of pipe and fittings to match up for a customer’s job and the many vendors to contact for inventory, creating a single pipe quote could take days, if not more than a week. This was difficult and tedious, but also appeared to be standard for the industry.

David set out to tackle the new problem, applying what he learned routing organ donations to an industrial setting. “It took about ten months to get a good pipe distribution system together, but it took about two years to create it in its entirety,” he remembered. Pipeco purchased the new system from David, giving its employees the ability to easily create more quotes, more accurately than its competitors.

This gave Pipeco an edge in sales, helping them to emerge as one of the leading pipe distributors in the U.S. One of David’s neighbors at the time was a Houston Pilot, who introduced him to another challenge. The Houston Pilots experienced a complete computer system failure and their support consultants were unable to recover any of the lost data.

David stepped in and was able to recover most of the data within a few days, and then installed a new computer system for the Pilots. Additional invitations for David to resolve support issues for the Pilots followed, beginning Mare Liberum’s longstanding support of the Pilots’ systems.

As his knowledge of their operations increased over time, he began making suggestions on how to improve and better utilize their computer network system.

David started developing a new dispatch system with the Pilots in late 1996, which gradually became known as Harborlights.

Harborlights increased the speed and

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spotlight: morrell accuracy of placing orders, and made the information accessible to the main port scheduling services, such as the tugs, mooring, and Coast Guard.

Harborlights has become a recognized port scheduling system for the Gulf of Mexico, operating in Houston, Galveston, Texas City, and Corpus Christi, and remains constantly engaged with handling the dynamics of pilot scheduling services and reporting real-time scheduling events to port industry. Port rules and restrictions dictate when, where, and how a ship will move in and out of port and how frequently.

Harborlights has evolved into a system that is flexible enough to meet the demands of port industry and pilot services, yet reliable to maintain a scheduling service that is accurate and dependable.

People frequently ask David how he thinks the Port of Houston and other Gulf Coast port areas will grow. David likes an idea he first heard from Bill Diehl, president of the Port Bureau, that “the best way to improve port services is to optimize industries, terminals, and docks by type and location.” The Port of Houston developed some of this clustering as it grew – container terminals serving deep-draft vessels with fast turnarounds are closer to the mouth of the port, break bulk terminals taking vessels with shallower drafts and less pressing schedules are the farthest distance up the channel, and the liquid bulk facilities fall in between. However, adopting the clustering any further would require massive infrastructure changes, which is not practical at this time. Therefore, David explains that he sees growth occurring as “changes due to advancements in technology will change the way ships and port services interact.”

David believes new technology and the drive toward more environmentallyfriendly designs of future ships could perhaps alter the design of terminals and docks, as well. He feels port operations technology should grow symbiotically with changes in ship technology so that regional ports remain globally competitive in a

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Morrell at work on Harborlights. technologically-advancing landscape. Also, as information sharing becomes more widely accepted, port users can begin to optimize terminal, dock, and port services activities at a regional level, planning movements across multiple ports to mitigate impacts of delays or to take real-time advantage of business opportunities.

David’s development work with Harborlights has fed into additional maritime efficiency projects. David is developing and nearing implementation of a tug and barge scheduling system for the Port of Texas City. The system allows the harbormaster to record incoming tug and barge arrangements and track each

re-arrangement of tugs and barges shifting and sailing. The most unique aspect of the system is its functionality for tracking barge cargo and estimating cargo volumes. When joined with the billing module, an algorithm is applied to tug and barge movements imported from the harbormaster system to automatically produce an invoice based on barge type, dynamic draft, cargo, dock, and time-at-dock.

GLASS (Global AIS on Space Station) is a project David is working on in conjunction with JAMSS America, Inc., the Port Bureau, and additional collaborators.

The project, funded in part by a grant from the CASIS, The Center for the Advancement

THE HOUSTON PILOTS Silent Servants of Progress

www.houston-pilots.com

spotlight: Morrell of Science in Space, aims to create the ability to monitor vessel traffic from the International Space Station and process the data two to three times a day for tracking, reporting, and forecasting. “It is our goal to produce cost-effective international AIS ship tracking that could be used for port services,” explained David. The grant team is still exploring potential applications of the data, including improvements to shipping efficiency and maritime domain awareness.

A derivative of the Harborlights interface will be used to process the ISS-based data.

David is in the final stages of commercial development of a buoy tracking system. David and his team created an interface to monitor buoys for such things as location, lantern status, battery status, message 21 (aids-to-navigation report), message 6 (aids-to-navigation monitoring report), GPS buoy data, and satellite remote monitoring buoy data.

“I would like to thank the Houston Pilots for giving me the opportunity and insight to invent and develop Harborlights,” said David. Summing up his reflections, he added, “Harborlights and other Mare Liberum projects would not have become such good systems, if it were not for the hard work and support of my team members Sandy Barclay, Alexandra (Morrell) Contreras, Jeff Timme, Carson Powers, Cody Phillips, and Aaron Koehler. Also, my wife Janine has provided focus and great support for our team’s endeavors throughout the years. Her help and feedback have provided resolution to many obstacles.”

David and Mare Liberum have enjoyed the challenges of developing technology for the local port industries and look forward to the future challenges of helping ports to meet the demands of progress.

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Flooding Impacts

Flooding Impacts on Inland Waterways Chris Ransome, President, CRA, Inc. Heavy rains and floods typically affect docks and harbors to a greater or lesser extent depending upon geography.

Deepwater ports with hard rock geology experience little effect. However, the Texas and Louisiana coasts with shallow waters and large muddy rivers and bayous, such as in the Port of Houston, can be significantly impacted. The degree to which any given berth silts-in is likewise variable. Larger dock complexes on the Houston Ship Channel opposite or just downstream of a bayou routinely receive more sediment than others. Companies that cut a large new dock area into the side of a fast flowing river like the Sabine-Neches Waterway make out even worse – even if there isn’t any rain!

The normal considerations of sediment supply (rivers/bayous), transport (currents/ tides), and berth geometry govern the usual sedimentation rate for a berth. Higher sediment flow during floods obviously exacerbates the problem. As a fast moving river in flood with a high sediment load enters a suddenly wider area, the flow velocity drops and the ability of the water to suspend or carry larger grains of silt falls. A larger percentage of coarse sediment drops out and settles to the bottom. Finer material is still carried a little further downstream, but if the flow keeps reducing, it too, drops to the bottom.

In a recent exploratory survey of Buffalo Bayou around downtown Houston, the evidence of trash in the trees by the bayou from the Memorial Day floods showed water levels to have been elevated by between 20 and 30 feet. Fortunately, street

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During the Memorial Day 2015 floodwater event, Buffalo Bayou waters rose to 34 ft in just a few hours. (Image Courtesy of CRA and United States Geologic Survey) level is a little higher in the area investigated.

Just to the west of downtown Buffalo Bayou is very narrow and deep. Upstream of the junction with White Oak Bayou, there is a wider area and a build-up of sediment that reduces normal water depths from the 10 foot level to only 4 or 5 feet. This was still the case after the flood, but why was there not much more silt deposited? The answer is that silt deposit was probably higher as the flood started, but the amount of water at the height of the flood was so great, and the velocity of the water so great, that it eroded any significant silt build up there and redeposited the material further downstream where the Bayou widens again.

Evidence from a barge dock between

downtown and Turning Basin showed 5 feet of sediment had been deposited during roughly the period just before and during the worst of the floods. It is only with regular depth sounding hydrographic surveys that can we begin to prove when and how sediment is deposited in a given location.

From this knowledge, one can extrapolate when to dredge at the most cost-effective time and with the most appropriate method.

Floods, of course, can occur from heavy rains right up to tropical storms or hurricanes. The latter typically produce more total rainfall over a longer period of time, but Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 stalled over Houston and actually produced greater flooding than most hurricanes (a

flooding impacts

Example of a fluff layer in a ship channel. (Image Courtesy of CRA) total of over 35 inches). In addition to the rainfall bringing sediment into the rivers, bayous, and ultimately the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay, hurricanes have two other major influences: the storm surge inland and large wave action at the coast. In the last major hurricane to hit the upper Texas coast (Hurricane Ike in 2008), the storm surge at the bayou section of the Houston Ship Channel was over 13 feet in places.

Similar effects were seen at the Port of Port Arthur. A large surge of water has the ability to disturb the bottom and move large amounts of silt both inland and then outward as the surge recedes. While not necessarily adding a large amount of material (although that can happen at or just behind the coastline), the effect in the

navigation channels and some docks will be to move sediment around. Unfortunately, it tends to move from shallow areas where the bottom is never dredged and is usually very soft into the nice deeper areas of navigation channels and ship berths. Nature does love to fill in man-made holes!

Washout from shallow areas surrounding the docks— and especially from underneath the docks themselves— can also be a structural issue. Removal of 3 to 4 feet of material from around the piles under a dock affects the pile loading and its capability to perform to design specifications. Similarly, washing away sediment at the base of a sheet pile wall can cause failure. Again, survey tools exist to examine all these areas, but baseline or design data is really needed for the comparison with the new conditions.

So let’s say we have a lot more sediment in the berthing areas, and we may know why, but what does the dock owner actually do about it? The first thing that usually happens is that the dock owner wants to know if the new material is dense enough to cause problems for vessel maneuvering or loading. Surely at least some of the material is more like liquid mud or fluff and a ship or barge won’t even notice it – right? Well, unfortunately for the dock owner, this is rarely true, at least on the Texas coast.

First, there is the question of whether or not the vessel owner or charterer insists on “x” feet of clear water under the hull at all times. Some vessels have special paint or coatings to reduce the friction with water and improve speed, and some have cooling water inlets very low down on the hull

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flooding impacts whose engine filters tend to get clogged by sediment.

Second, even if these considerations are not issues, a recent survey indicated that only small amounts of the silt may be considered navigable mud. Results from a specialized in-situ density meter survey at a somewhat silted-in dock in Port Arthur showed that within 6 inches to a foot of the top of the sediment the density had already reached the maximum accepted value for safe navigation (density of 1.2 tons/meter3).

Given that they had a normal siltation rate of 0.5 to 1 foot a month, the findings did not really help them much. While conditions do vary along the coast, this result is expected to be the norm rather than the exception and is really the result of most of the sediment being derived from geologic clay, typically the Beaumont Clay of the Pleistocene Period in this area.

Clay particles attract each other and tend to produce very “sticky” sediment that, although not particularly dense, has a suction-like effect on vessel hulls.

Overall, we cannot escape the fact that river and bayou siltation on the Texas Gulf Coast shoreline is a major influence in the shipping industry and mandates periodic dredging. It is bad enough under normal conditions, but the effects of named storms and local and regional flooding make a bad situation much worse!

Given this scenario and the added effect of all the new dock construction taking place, particularly on the upper bayou section of the Houston Ship Channel, the pressure on the currently available dredge material disposal areas has reached the critical point. Almost all of the available disposal sites on the Houston channel are leased exclusively by the Corps of Engineers for the creation of the channel and its maintenance. These sites are getting full and the Corps is restricting access to them by private industry.

Standards for the cleanliness of sediment acceptance have also gone up in response to environmental pressures. Of the

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three privately owned disposal areas on the ship channel, only one is currently accepting material. The other two are restricted to the owners’ projects only. This is making the disposal of dredge material from private facilities (especially from new construction)

very problematic. Offshore disposal is touted as one answer, but the economic costs, the sediment testing protocols, and acceptance criteria set by the EPA make this a difficult option for most private facilities, especially the smaller ones.

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flooding impacts One thing is certain: the dredging industry has to innovate to find new and cost-effective means to dispose of silt from docks and terminals. Ships are getting bigger (post-Panamax), needing deeper channels and docks. If changing weather patterns result in larger hurricanes and higher annual coastal rainfall, the situation will get worse and soon!

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Spotlight: Mclellan

Spotlight on CAPT Malcolm (Rob) McLellan III, Deputy Sector Commander, USCG Christine Schlenker, GHPB In early July 2015, CAPT Malcolm (Rob) McLellan, III, joined Sector Houston-Galveston as the new Deputy Sector Commander. Throughout his 23-year career, McLellan has focused primarily on marine safety, security, and environmental protection.

Raised in an Army family, McLellan wanted to pursue a military career, but knew the Army was not the right branch for him. After his older brother left for the Coast Guard Academy, McLellan decided to follow in his footsteps and applied for the Academy – and only the Academy – where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Initially intending to become a pilot, McLellan changed course toward marine safety after his mentor recognized his talent for vessel inspections while conducting law enforcement operations in the Caribbean.

Starting as a young inspector in Mobile, Alabama, much of his work focused on long-term construction projects, such as new construction for the international offshore fleet and deep draft dry docks. The experience “opened [his] eyes that there were a lot more technical aspects” to the ship construction and inspection process, and stirred him to learn everything he could about it.

McLellan’s first boss inadvertently challenged him to achieve success by telling him that his desired path would doom his career. Focused on becoming a good inspector, McLellan frequently declined to move to new locations for

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the traditional career-building exposure.

Instead, he modeled his training on that of warrant officers who become double-ended inspectors – trained to inspect both the engineering plant and the deck. His boss said that McLellan’s goal was impossible for an officer to achieve in a single tour, so McLellan did just that, earning 15 qualifications along the way and setting himself apart from other inspectors.

Following Mobile, McLellan embarked on “one of the more interesting and rewarding tours” in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. McLellan performed inspections across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on U.S. vessels as well as foreignflagged vessels bound for the United States. This tour “put perspective, not just on different cultures, but on a different approach” to how security and safety were CAPT Malcolm (Rob) McLellan III treated across the world, and “how really far in remote parts of Africa or the Middle ahead, at least at the time, was [the U.S.’s] East waiting for supplies to ship in. The oversight of the fleet.” The experience also down time was not wasted, of course, as emphasized to McLellan that shipping remote trips usually involved inspections companies valued not just profits, but also for multiple companies. In an interesting the safety of their workers. coincidence, a vessel for which McLellan Some of the locations to which oversaw the construction while in Gulfport, McLellan traveled made inspections Mississippi, required his inspection in particularly challenging due to the Nigeria, Africa, just six months later. remoteness or the hazards of the regions.

McLellan was the supervisor of a Often with access to no help short of using Marine Safety Detachment in Greensville, expensive satellite communications, the high Mississippi, when the 9/11 attacks occurred. level of independence and responsibility The Coast Guard’s increased scrutiny further honed his inspection skills. Without of security issues led to McLellan’s next easy access to parts or supplies for repairs, placement at Coast Guard Headquarters some inspections that would have taken a as the Vessel Security Program Manager. matter of days in the U.S. took two weeks In this role, McLellan developed national

Spotlight: mclellan security programs for commercial ferries, anti-piracy efforts, and to identify high interest vessels. These programs had direct impact on seafarers and Coast Guard personnel. During his first week here in Houston, McLellan saw the Command Center using the risk evaluation program for high interest vessels he developed over a decade ago, now improved over years of iterations.

McLellan also developed the initial version of the anti-piracy policy to guide captains of U.S.-flagged vessels travelling in foreign waters. The policy recommended actions captains could take or zones in which the vessels could safely operate to reduce the probability of pirate boardings. McLellan knew his work was impactful after his department received feedback from several captains who successfully implemented the recommendations and avoided pirate attacks.

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To allow his son to finish high school at the same school he started at, McLellan made another unusual career move by staying an additional four-year tour at Headquarters, the second time as Chief of the Compliance Analysis Branch. This tour completed his transition from inspections to investigations, and it provided him the opportunity to understand the “full picture of how policy comes about, from the top all the way down.” Shortly after his tour started, he was assigned as the chair of the Marine Board investigating a major marine casualty, the fatal sinking of the fishing boat KATMAI off the coast of Alaska.

During the year-long investigation, which McLellan described as one of the highlights of his career, he led the investigation with the assistance of Coast Guard and NTSB investigators to determine the causal factors that precipitated the disaster and provided recommendations to other port users to avoid similar incidents.

Soon after the conclusion of that investigation, the Deepwater Horizon event occurred. With his experience leading an investigation board still fresh, McLellan was assigned as the executive director of the Deepwater Horizon board. His position was not to lead the board, but to guide it in the right direction during the highly complex investigation.

Throughout his investigation tenure at Headquarters, and even prior to that as an inspector, McLellan focused not only on identifying issues, but also the underlying causes and potential solutions. For “even the smallest casualty,” he would review the case and available data, and try to offer the community a safety recommendation.

While his or his team’s original hypotheses regarding one or more causes for an incident were often correct, further analysis usually revealed additional factors contributing to the event. However, what he found more interesting was that, despite the causes

McLellan and members of his MSU Paducah team visiting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District-operated Kentucky Lock in Grand Rivers, KY, on August 23, 2012. (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District)

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Spotlight: mclellan often appearing to be unrelated, they may all share a single convergent solution, making it easier for port users to implement safety recommendations.

As that tour was winding down and he was filling out his dream sheet, or assignment requests, McLellan decided to apply for command positions, though he was concerned that eight years at Headquarters may have pushed his path in a different direction. As fate would have it, what was good for his family was also good for his career. As an expert in marine safety policy, he was granted his first-requested assignment: Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Unit in Paducah, Kentucky.

McLellan became interested in Paducah while tracking and analyzing incident reports at Headquarters. He explained, “Of all the inland river ports we looked at, everything seemed to be happening in Paducah.” At the confluence of the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers, it is a densely-used river system and a dynamic environment. McLellan would be faced with daily challenges and opportunities to make positive impacts on the maritime community.

McLellan felt that “being a Commanding Officer is probably one of the best jobs you can have. You’re the boss, but you have to be humble.” He quickly realized that he could not be successful in

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his position without relying on his team and industry for support and cooperation.

With the help of staff analysts and industry input, McLellan developed and implemented a new waterways action plan that aligned the safety and commerce goals of the Coast Guard and industry. An Army Corps channel project to restructure the waterway required blasting of the bedrock, and McLellan received an Army Medal of Commendation for his role in maintaining a safe waterway during the project.

By analyzing the needs of the waterways, and by cultivating cooperation with industry and public partners, McLellan felt he was able to make significant impacts to the safety and efficiency of the system. Despite record-low waters on the Mississippi that coincided with implementation of the waterways action plan, the incident rate declined. McLellan said, “My first year was a lot busier than my last.”

When the time came to request a new assignment, McLellan was prepared to again take a pause on his career path to make sure his daughter would be able to happily finish high school. She wanted to go “somewhere cold” and asked to go to Cleveland, Ohio.

Houston, McLellan’s preferred location, and decidedly not cold, fell to second on his list. However, the Coast Guard recognized McLellan’s marine safety expertise was more useful in Houston than Cleveland.

McLellan with his wife Kathy and children Christopher and Chelsea. (Photo Courtesy of McLellan Family)

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After receiving his orders for Houston, McLellan’s daughter researched the area and realized that boredom would never be an option. As McLellan put it, “Things work out the way they are supposed to.” As a new resident of Clear Lake, McLellan looks forward to exploring the museums, attractions, and the diverse cuisine of the city, and he has already been exposed to one of the pop culture landmarks of Southeast Texas, Buc-ees.

McLellan is “a strong advocate of the relationship the Coast Guard maintains with all its partners.” While he recognizesthat during his early career, Coast Guard and industry partners were rarely comfortable working together, he has seen a large shift in that mentality. The Houston maritime community fully embraces the cooperative attitude, facilitating safety and commerce.

As he was with Paducah, McLellan was intrigued with Sector Houston-Galveston because the complexity and dynamism of the system create a challenging environment where his decisions and actions can make daily impacts.

Knowing that he was bound for Houston, McLellan paid close attention to how the response for the Carla Maersk incident unfolded earlier this year. From an outsider’s perspective, McLellan was impressed with how fluidly the Coast Guard and its public and private partners worked as a team to, first and foremost, ensure safety of life and environment, and then to mitigate the impact to commerce.

He values the relationships required to make such busy waterways function, and looks forward to continuing to work with industry to promote a healthy system.

After only a few weeks in Houston, McLellan says he still has plenty to learn about the Sector and from Captain of the Port, Captain Brian Penoyer. Solving problems and overcoming challenges have defined McLellan’s Coast Guard career, and Houston will make an interesting next chapter in his story.

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CAPT ELLIOT CROCHET

New CLM Towing Pushboat Christened in Houston Kyle Beam, GHPB Family and friends of Capt. Elliot Crochet, President and CEO of Thousand Foot Cut Marine Services, LLC, and CLM Towing, LLC, gathered at Brady’s Landing on July 1, 2015, to celebrate the career of the Louisiana boatman with the christening of the M/V Capt Elliot Crochet Towing’s newest fleet member.

The christening ceremony was highlighted by Crochet’s mother Mrs. Jeanne Crochet, smashing a bottle of champagne on the bow of the pushboat.

During the ceremony, emcee Tom Marian of Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., described the process of how a ship receives its name. Telling the story of how the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria were bestowed their names Tom said, “The names come from where the vessel was outfitted, where the vessel was painted, where the vessel was constructed.”

Tom continued by describing the U.S. Navy’s process for naming its ships. Citing a law passed in 1819 Tom noted that all first class ships are named after states, all second class ships are named after rivers, and all third class ships are named after cities and towns. The law still stands today, but with the vast increase in size of the Navy fleet, ships have taken on names of presidents, influential leaders, and famous battles.

Tom added, “The name of a vessel speaks volumes of its character.” Accordingly, in the case of the M/V Capt Elliot Crochet, loyalty is a key characteristic. He underscored this by describing Capt. Crochet as a fiercely loyal man who would give a person the shirt off his back. Hence, the “ M/V Capt Elliot Crochetwill always go the extra mile for the crew since it is constructed in such a way to ensure the crew is protected at night. The

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Capt Elliot Crochet is also equipped with safety features and redundant systems so that the crew can sleep at night knowing that they’ll be safe on a vessel that has been crafted with their well-being in mind.”

He then recounted a conversation with Mrs. Crochet in which she asked what it meant to have a vessel named after her son.

Tom answered that “the vessel embodies his years of experience.” The Mitsubishi mechanical engines known for their high quality, reliability, and functionality represent Capt. Crochet’s so-called Cajun engineering talent; the vessel’s half-inch plate steel symbolizes Capt. Crochet’s thick skin; and the simple, clean lines and functional design of the vessel drove home, in Mrs. Crochet words, “that when you look at my son, what you see is what you get.”

The new vessel, expected to work as hard as her eponym, was scheduled for her first shift the day after the ceremony.

Before the official christening, the vessel was blessed by Father Tom Rafferty

of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Tom explained that Father Rafferty would be blessing “the bow of the vessel to protect where the vessel is going,…the stern to protect that which propels her,…the engines to protect that which powers her, and… the wheelhouse as that is the location of the Captain who is responsible for the safe navigation of the vessel.”

Following the ceremony, Buffalo Marine president Pat Studdert offered a final memento of the event by presenting a statue to Capt. Crochet honoring their longstanding business relationship and friendship.

On what was a stormy day in the Houston area, the weather held off long enough for the blessing and christening to occur, and provided the new M/V Capt Elliot Crochet a taste of the elements she will encounter as she navigates the waters of the Gulf Coast.

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Mrs. Jeanne Crochet officially christens the M/V CAPT ELLIOT CROCHET

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Menhaden

Schooling Fish Stall Ships on Houston Ship Channel Judith Schultz, GHPB Populous menhaden fish schools continue to be a problem for vessels transiting the Houston Ship Channel.

The record numbers of the fish and the potentially calamitous problems they can wreak on vessel coolant systems topped the agenda at the July 14, 2015, joint meeting of the Lone Star Harbor Safety Committee (LSHSC) Waterways Utilization, Dredging, and Navigation Operations subcommittees.

A dry, cool winter followed by a wet spring creates favorable spawning conditions for menhaden, also known as “pogy� fish.

Gulf menhaden are found in coastal and inland tidal waters and appear in near-shore Gulf waters from April to November. The Houston Ship Channel has seen a record number of the fish this season, up to ten times more than noted in previous years.

Two representatives from Omega Protein Corporation presented at the joint meeting. Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs, explained the role of gulf menhaden in the commercial fishing industry.

Menhaden are an excellent and sustainable

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Schools of menhaden have been seen in record numbers along the Texas Gulf Coast.

(Photo courtesty of Crabby Taxonomist www.flickr.com/photos/crabby_taxonomist) source of omega-3 fatty acids in food and food products. Omega Protein is one of two companies harvesting and processing menhaden in the Gulf. Most fishing is done off the coast of Louisiana where the highest

concentration of adult fish, over two years of age, live.

Ron Lukens, Senior Fisheries Biologist, discussed the lifecycle implications of the menhaden to the Gulf. Juvenile menhaden between one and two years old migrate

Menhaden

Safety Recommendations for Menhaden Season from Coast Guard and Houston Pilots Ship suctions draw the fish into a vessel’s sea chest, an intake reservoir for the vessel’s coolant system, and the fish become trapped in the sea strainer.. (Diagram courtesy of NEMIS) to estuary and inland waterways and are most likely the bulk of the fish currently seen in the Houston Ship Channel. Since commercial fishing focuses heavily on larger adult menhaden, the excess population in the Houston Ship Channel will not be reduced by fishing in Galveston Bay. In response to questions about juvenile menhaden’s habits and preferred place in the water column, Lukens explained that due to lack of funding for research, some juvenile menhaden behaviors have not been recorded.

However, the LSHSC Menhaden Working Group did receive information from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department indicating menhaden school in late evening to protect themselves from predators and generally stay in the one-to-eight foot water column range.

Schools of young menhaden can number in the tens or hundreds of thousands of densely packed fish. The hazard for a vessel occurs when ship suctions draw the fish into a vessel’s sea chest, an intake reservoir for the vessel’s coolant system, and the fish become trapped in the sea strainer.

The clogged sea strainer reduces vessel engine cooling, triggering high temperture alarms for water and oil. In more extreme cases, the fish have clogged entire coolant systems, leaving the vessel dead in the water.

Furthermore, another serious issue arises when vessel crew remove the basket filter to clear the fish – a seemingly logical move. However, when the filter is out of

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the strainer, the fish move past the point of filtration and are sucked in the pump. The pump unavoidably chops the fish into small pieces, something most vessel crew would rather leave for Omega Protein to handle.

The resultant fish meal chokes the engine coolers, resulting in high temperatures in the coolant system. The engine overheats and goes into automatic slow-down – or even shut-down – resulting in loss of propulsion.

The LSHSC Menhaden Working Group, a part of the Casualty Analysis group, initiated a voluntary survey on July 6 to collect data from vessel masters and engineers on vessels transiting the Ship Channel in order to prepare best practice documentation to reduce or avoid potential overheating issues. In the meantime, operators are urged to utilize the recommendations and updates issued by the Coast Guard and the Houston Pilots (see sidebar) to allay potential problems.

While the current menhaden surge should begin dissipating later this summer, current weather patterns are prime for another bumper crop in 2016. Port users will continue to study the present environment and share best practices for the rest of this season and next.

Ed. Note: If your vessels operate in the Houston Ship Channel, and you can share information about issues with menhaden or how you have avoided problems, please email editor@txgulf.org to learn more about the LSHSC survey.

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• Implement well-managed procedures for cleaning seawater strainers:

o Back-flush by opening the strainer outlet valve from upstream to prevent fish carryover into the pumps. o Close the valves on either side of the strainer before opening it for cleaning. o Utilize nets to scoop the fish out.

• Implement an engineerdesigned approach, such as using the aft peak tank for seawater cooling purposes.

For example, use internal cooling, which is commonly used for vessels which operate in extreme cold weather conditions, such as the Baltic Sea and Great Lakes during the winter.

• Make sure all strainers are cleaned prior to getting underway from anchorage.

• Initiate a preventative system that requires frequent cleaning and swapping between sea strainers when the vessel is operating in the Houston Ship Channel and outer anchorages.

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Traffic efficiency Committee

Port Bureau Traffic Efficiency Committee Update Patrick Seeba, GHPB In January 2015, the Port Bureau Board of Directors initiated two committees to investigate long-term challenges for the Houston Ship Channel and Port of Houston, one focused on dredging issues, and the other focused on the commercial efficiencies of moving traffic on the Houston Ship Channel. With support from a wide range of stakeholders including terminals of every cargo type, the Houston Pilots Association, line handlers, harbor tugs, and bunker operators, the traffic efficiency committee’s bi-monthly meetings are fleshing out some of the issues that may impact regional competitiveness for years to come. The first two areas being studied are gangways and layberth availability.

Gangways When a vessel pulls up to her berth, a gangway is deployed in one of two ways: either the terminal will move a gangway into place or the vessel’s crew will take a gangway from storage and lower it to the quay. Before the gangway is set, nobody can board or depart from the vessel, and the time it takes to place a gangway has a direct impact on port efficiency and service charges. For liquid bulk terminals, the average time spent by a vessel putting a gangway down is fifteen minutes longer than the time it takes for a terminal equipped with a shore-side gangway to facilitate the movement of personnel on/ off the vessel. As an example of increased cost, pilot fees for detention on the dock begin 35 minutes after a vessel’s first line is attached and increase after 65 minutes. In addition, an extra 30 minutes per day spent mooring without a gangway can lead to 7.6 days of lost time per year. Some facilities are not able to make modifications based on this information, especially those facilities whose docks were constructed decades ago and whose ability to expand may be curtailed by their geographic restrictions. However, by presenting terminal operators with hard

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data, they are able to go to internal funding sources and calculate the rate of return on investments for materials such as a shorebased crane or other gangway system.

Layberths The Houston Ship Channel is a busy place. Though nearly 20,000 deep water vessels transit annually and 200,000 barges ply the region’s width-restricted waterway, there are precious few places for vessels to perform non-cargo operations. When a layberth is not available, a vessel may have to return to anchorage while awaiting its next berth. The Port of Houston Authority City Docks are the preferred location for layberth operations for vessels able to traverse the shallower part of the channel. Allowing for stores, repairs, fresh water, inspections, as well as easy access to chandlers, transportation companies, and the Houston International Seafarers’ Center, the Port of Houston Authority’s three dozen docks receive over 45% of the layberth stops on the Houston Ship Channel. However, for many liquid bulk vessels calling at terminals in Deer Park and Pasadena, facilities like the Port of Houston Authority’s Care and Jacintoport terminals, or private bulk/ break bulk facilities like Texas Terminals, Cemex, Industrial Terminals, South Central Cement, Vulcan, or Watco Greens Port may provide closer options, allowing

vessel operators to save on fuel, time, and transit costs. A recent Port Bureau study on movement costs show that a 521 foot chemical tanker may save up to $9,000 for a single transit if it finds a layberth at a facility like Care Terminal versus going all the way out to anchorage. In addition, other considerations like the day rate of the vessel and efficiencies gained by taking on stores, lubes, or scheduling a certificate of compliance inspection may add to savings for a vessel which finds a lay-by facility instead of transiting to anchorage between terminal visits.

The Next Steps The Port Bureau’s traffic efficiency committee is dedicated to looking at all types of problems affecting the ability of vessels to transit the Houston Ship Channel.

Committee Chairman Captain Tim Downs, Shell (US) Trading Company’s General Manager of Shipping and Maritime for the Americas, has taken a proactive role in both diversifying the types of issues addressed by the committee as well as by bringing in outside experts to discuss best practices in other environments. If you or your company is active along the waterfront and interested in discussing operational concerns, please contact the Port Bureau at (713) 678-4300 to RSVP for the next committee meeting.

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Time Between First-Line and Pilot-Off at HSC Liquid Terminals (2008-2013) At some liquid bulk terminals, lack of a gangway increases the length of time and the variability of how long the mooring process takes.

Source: GHPB Analysis of Vessel Movement Database

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Commerce Club

Commerce Club July 2015

Featuring Edwin Bastian, Global Sales Director, BBC Chartering USA Judith Schultz, GHPB “I still believe business is based on relationships,” said Ed Bastian, Global Sales Director of BBC Chartering USA, in his opening remarks to the July 9 Commerce Club gathering of industry professionals at Brady’s Landing.

“Our economic engine runs because we get up, put our foot on the accelerator, and go to work,” emphasized Bastian as he described not the basics of daily life, but the realities of the shipping business in an economy he sees as still recovering from the 2009 recession. “[The recession] was a ‘perfect storm’ of economic news … and the world of shipping became a new ball game.”

Challenging is the word Bastian used to define business today, with cargo volumes “inconsistent” and confidence factors that “change like the weather”.

BBC Chartering handles a broad diversity of heavy lift and project cargoes.

Bastian demonstrated the weight and variety of cargoes via photo slides that included an ethane cracker for a local refinery, a 680 metric ton [1.5 million pounds] nuclear steam generator that set a record for heavy lift in Charleston, 10 heavy duty locomotives [to Mozambique], and the Martin Luther King, Jr. granite sculpture memorial – a project that was transported in crated pieces aboard the BBC France vessel from China to Baltimore and later reconstructed in Washington, D.C. by the artist.

Locally, BBC has partnered with Gulf Stream Marine and Manchester Terminal

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Edwin Bastian addresses attendees at the July 9 Commerce Club luncheon. to form a dedicated hub in North America.

Bastian reported positive response from customers on their serviceability and priority berthing, noting that guests attending their open house earlier in the year described the facilities as “awesome”.

Although Manchester Terminal operates as their main hub, BBC also services customers in other terminals along the Houston Ship Channel.

Bastian favors the Port of Houston as the top port for break bulk and project cargoes over the next ten years. He named three reasons for his outlook. One, Houston has “the best and most” break bulk facilities; two, a favorable labor environment with private and public competition; and, three, its geographic position.

Numerous questions were proffered in the Q&A session, with a particular focus on the future of heavy lift ships. Bastian

responded that he sees cargo getting heavier and “modularization” continuing to occur.

He does not expect a “major change in the size of ships – not like containers – but an increase in the lifting capacity.”

Bastian wrapped up his comments by urging commitment to continuous improvement and communication, respect, hard work, and “building for a sustainable future for our children”.

Ed Note: The Commerce Club Luncheon series will take a pause in August as the Greater Houston Port Bureau will celebrate its 86th Annual Dinner honoring ExxonMobil on August 22, 2015. The Commerce Club will return on September 10, 2015, at Brady’s Landing, featuring Roger Guenther, Executive Director, Port of Houston Authority. Sign up by visiting www.txgulf.org/commerceclub.php or calling (713) 678-4300.

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Commerce club First Row: From left, Capt. Mike Morris and Darce Kullman Second Row Left: From left, Jordan Frisby, Charles Flournoy, and Dennis Hansell Second Row Right: Commerce Club attendees look out across the ship channel.

Bottom Row Left: Over 150 attendees filled Brady’s Landing to listen to Edwin Bastian Bottom Row Right: From left, Dave Cooley greets Gary Myers.

Thank you to our table sponsors:

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Greater Houston Port Bureau www.txgulf.org 111 East Loop North Houston, TX 77029 (713) 678-4300 A Publication of the Greater Houston Port Bureau The Port Bureau News magazine is a monthly publication of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, a member-driven non-profit dedicated to promoting the maritime community, providing vessel movement information, and offering members premier networking and advertising opportunities to drive business. The magazine is distributed to over 7,000 professionals in the Houston maritime community via U.S. mail and email. Advertising is available for members.