Happy Thursday! We are almost done for the week!
The Greater Houston Port Bureau’s (GHPB)Women
in Maritime Happy Hour is held a couple times a year in the evening at
different locations around the Houston-Galveston region to give women in the
maritime industry a chance to mix and mingle. Last night, I went to the GHPB’s Women in
Maritime Happy Hour which was held at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector (USCG)
Houston-Galveston. The speaker was
Captain Nicole Rodriguez, MPE, Deputy Commander, USCG Sector Houston-Galveston. She gave a nice talk about USCG and
the Houston-Galveston region. Their area
is from Matagorda Bay to East of Lake Charles and 200 miles out from the shore and
it includes the Houston Ship Channel. They
protect our waterways and work with all parties who use them as well as enforce
maritime law. USCG manages the
waterways, the way traffic lights and peace officers work with street traffic and
cameras with due diligence and communication.
The USCG is in charge of things which happen on the waterways
which include vessels, vessel movement, and inspection for security and safety. USCG are the lead agency for Search
and Rescue (SAR), and they are the Federal On-scene Coordinators for environmental
response on the waterways. The USCG are
the only armed forces division which protects from our shores, and they provide
humanitarian aid as well as help our country with commerce.
Captain Rodriguez gave us some
background information about the USCG.
The U.S. Coast Guard came out of the old Revenue Cutter Service
which existed in the 1790s, then around 1915 they became the U.S. Coast
Guard by order of Congress. Captain Rodriguez
spoke about an incident during World War II when saboteurs from Germany tried
to blow up a port on the East Coast and was stopped by the captain of the
port. After that the Captain of the Port
was given control of movement on the waterway, and to this day it is why it is
an important position. The USCG
has a long history of helping and protecting our country right here from our shores!
A neat thing that happened last
night was we were given a tour of the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). The VTS is the traffic control center of the
Houston-Galveston sector where they help with movement on the waterways. The men and women who work there work
directly with the ships and vessels to help them get to where they need to go
safely and efficiently. They are especially
important during foggy season because they see things the water vessel can’t and
keep many from having collisions and running ashore. The Houston-Galveston
Sector is a hardworking crew which keeps the Houston area a top port of the
U.S. and keeps Texas as a leader in
commerce.
I’d like to thank Captain Rodriguez, MPE and the VTS at the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Houston-Galveston for a very informative evening and a lovely time! I hope they have a productive rest of the year and a happy holiday season!
The GHPB’s Women in Maritime
Happy Hour was an informative and fun event to attend to help us get acquainted
with other women in the industry as well as learn about the waterways and
people who protect them. The next one
they have if you’re a woman in maritime, you should check it out!
If you are interested in becoming
U.S. Coast Guard and want to help protect our waterways and help people;
please click the link: Home | UnitedStates Coast Guard (gocoastguard.com).
If you would
like help in looking into how to transport your product efficiently, safely, and
with less of a carbon footprint or just find out what is underneath your feet
to help with your emission reduction goals, contact us via email in the blog
and check out our ESC's website!
We hope you have a wonderful evening and a great rest of
your week!