Port of Houston: Difference between revisions

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| revenue = US$168 million (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts">{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/bondfacts/bondfacts.html | title=PHA and Bond Fast Facts | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | accessdateaccess-date=January 26, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607041507/http://www.portofhouston.com/bondfacts/bondfacts.html | archive-date=June 7, 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The '''Port of Houston''' is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of [[Houston|Houston, Texas]]. The port is a {{Convert|50-mile|mi|4=-long|sp=us|adj=mid}} complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Located in the fourth-largest city in the United States, it is the busiest port in the U.S. in terms of foreign tonnage, second-and the busiest in the U.S. in terms of overall tonnage,.<ref>{{cite news |last= Collier|first= Kiah|date= May 3, 2013|title= Houston has the busiest seaport in the U.S.|url= http://www.chron.com/discoverhouston/article/Houston-has-the-busiest-seaport-in-the-US-4486844.php|newspaper= [[Houston Chronicle]]|accessdateaccess-date= October 17, 2014}}</ref> and [[List of world's busiest ports by cargo tonnage|sixteenth-busiest]] in the world. Though originally the port's terminals were primarily within the Houston city limits, the port has expanded to such a degree that today it has facilities in multiple communities in the surrounding area. In particular the port's busiest terminal, the [[Barbours Cut Terminal]], is located in [[Morgan's Point, Texas|Morgan's Point]].

The Port of Houston is a cooperative entity consisting of both the [[port authority]], which operates the major terminals along the [[Houston Ship Channel]], and more than 150 private companies situated along [[Buffalo Bayou]] and [[Galveston Bay]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/overview1.html | title=Overview | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509141210/http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/overview1.html | archive-date=May 9, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Many petroleum corporations have built refineries along the channel where they are partially protected from the threat of major storms in the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. The petrochemical complex associated with the Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world.<ref>{{cite book | title=The World Without Us | author=Weisman, Alan | year=2008 | publisher=Macmillan | location=New York | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEt_xWoju_MC|isbn=978-0-312-34729-1 | page=166 | quote=The industrial megaplex that begins on the east side of Houston and continues uninterrupted to the Gulf of Mexico, 50&nbsp;miles away, is the largest concentration of petroleum refineries, petrochemical companies, and storage structures on Earth.}}</ref>

The citizens of [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]] approved creation of the modern port in 1909, believing that an inland port would better serve the region after the destructive [[1900 Galveston hurricane|Galveston Hurricane of 1900]]. [[United States President|President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] officially opened the port to traffic as the World Port of Houston and Buffalo Bayou on November 10, 1914.<ref>{{cite web|title=WELCOME TO PASADENA, TEXAS !|publisher=Pasadena Chamber of Commerce|accessdateaccess-date=September 12, 2009|url=http://www.pasadenachamber.org/about/aboutpasadena.html}}</ref> In the 1930s the Port became the focus of labor conflict, with sometimes intense battles between strikers and authorities, during the [[1935 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike]] and the [[1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike]] among other incidents.

Early supporters would prove to be correct; the port has grown to be one of the world's largest. By 1961, overtakingit thewas nearbyalready [[Portamong ofthe Galveston]]busiest ports in significancethe US.<ref name=NG>{{Citationcite magazine |author=Stanley Walker |author-link=Stanley Walker (editor) needed|date=JanuaryFebruary 20101961 |title=The Fabulous State of Texas|magazine=[[National Geographic]] |volume=119 |issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|184}} In 1977 the Port of Houston opened the [[Barbours Cut Terminal]], Texas' first [[cargo container]] terminal, at [[Morgan's Point, Texas|Morgan's Point]]. This new terminal, in the [[Galveston Bay Area|Bay Area]], quickly became the port's most important terminal.<ref>{{cite magazine| title=On the Waterfront | author=Cartwright, Gary | magazine=Texas Monthly | date=July 1978 | pages=161–162 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiwEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> The opening of the [[Bayport Terminal]] in 2006 further extended the port authority's reach outside the city of Houston.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/BayportTerminalProgress/index.html | title=Bayport Terminal Progress | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216073026/http://www.portofhouston.com/BayportTerminalProgress/index.html | archive-date=February 16, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Approximately {{Convert|215 million tons|e6ST}} of cargo moved through the Port in 2005, most of which is petroleum related. The Port has two separate terminals dedicated to the handling of [[cargo container]]s: [[Barbours Cut Terminal|Barbours Cut]] (at [[Morgan's Point, Texas|Morgan's Point]]), and [[Bayport Terminal|Bayport]] (in Pasadena, opened in October 2006). The Barbours Cut terminal was, in fact, the port's first terminal specifically designed for these shipments. Additional general cargo terminals include Turning Basin, Jacintoport, Woodhouse, and Care.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/maritime/maritime.html | title=Maritime Operations | publisher=Port of Houston}}</ref>

The Port is operated by the Port of Houston Authority, an independent political subdivision of the State of Texas governed by a seven-member commission. The City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court each appoint two commissioners; these two governmental entities also jointly appoint the chairman of the Port Commission. The Harris County Mayors and Councils Association and the City of [[Pasadena, Texas|Pasadena]] each appoint one commissioner. Daily operations are overseen by an Executive DirectorCEO who serves at the will of the Commission.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/admin.html | title=Administration: The Port of Houston Authority Commissioners | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2010}}</ref>

A renovation project for the Port's Turning Basin Terminal began in 2010 and is expected to take 10 years.{{Update after|2021}} The Turning Basin Terminal is a multipurpose complex with open wharves and 37 docks that are used for direct discharge and loading of breakbulk, containerized, project or heavy-lift cargoes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.portofhouston.com/maritime/general_cargo/turningbasin.html |title=The Port of Houston |access-date=January 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218175425/http://www.portofhouston.com/maritime/general_cargo/turningbasin.html |archive-date=February 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The goal of the renovation is to accommodate the increase in the transportation of steel, which increased more than {{Convert|3.1 million tons|e6ST}} in the first nine months of 2011, up from {{Convert|1.9 million tons|e6ST}} over the same period in the previous year.<ref>[http://www.chron.com/business/article/Turning-Basin-turnaround-Port-upgrades-aging-2242123.php The Houston Chronicle]</ref>

The Port of Houston is a major point of international trade for the United States. The following is the trade volume by world region reported by the Greater Houston Partnership as of 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.regione.sicilia.it/Cooperazione/internazionalizzazione/info_paese_usa/Texas/Presentazione_Texas.ppt#280,30,Houston’s%202006%20Seaborne%20Trade%20with%%20World | publisher=Greater Houston Partnership | title=Houston: Open for Business: Houston Highlights | accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2010}}</ref>

The Port of Houston Authority manages [[Foreign trade zones of the United States|Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 84]], which includes many privately owned and port-owned sites located throughout Houston and Harris County, Texas. The Houston Zone offers users special benefits. For example, customs duties on imported goods entering the FTZ can be delayed until the cargo is removed from the zone. No duty is paid if the merchandise is exported directly from the zone.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.portofhouston.com/business-development/foreign-trade-zone/| publisher=Port of Houston Authority| title=Foreign Trade Zone| accessdateaccess-date=April 16, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407012639/http://www.portofhouston.com/business-development/foreign-trade-zone/| archive-date=April 7, 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The following Sub Zones are a part of The Port of Houston FTZ No. 84:<ref>{{cite web| url=http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html| publisher=International Trade Administration| title=List of Foreign-Trade Zones by State| accessdateaccess-date=April 16, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113084141/http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html| archive-date=January 13, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref>

* When the [[Baytown Tunnel]] was removed in 1997 to allow deepening and widening of the Houston Ship Channel (it was replaced by the [[Fred Hartman Bridge]]), it was the largest tunnel so removed ({{Convert|35'|ft}} diameter by {{Convert|1,041'|ft}} length) without closing the channel, losing time due to accidents, or impacting the navigational safety of the port.

In 1968 Texas historian [[Marilyn McAdams Sibley]] published ''The Port of Houston: A History''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AMarilyn%20McAdams%20Sibley&field-author=Marilyn%20McAdams%20Sibley&page=1|title=Books by Marilyn McAdams Sibley|accessdatewebsite=Amazon |access-date=September 26, 2010}}</ref>