Happy Thursday!
I would like to congratulate Energy Specialists Consulting, LLC News Blog on our one-year anniversary! We hope you have enjoyed reading about our energy industry, ports, and interesting tidbits!
We went to the Greater Houston Port Bureau (GHPB) Commerce
Club Luncheon at the Houston Marriot South at Hobby Airport today.
The speaker was Captain Keith
Donohue, Commander, Sector Houston-Galveston United States Coast Guard (USCG). Captain Donohue is new to this current position
with him only being in it since June 2023.
Captain Donohue is a man of many hats.
The Commander position is important in regard to he is the Captain of
the Port, Officer-in-Charge of Marine Inspections, Federal Maritime Security
Coordinator, and Federal on-Scene Coordinator.
The area he is in charge of ranges from Matagorda Bay to East of Lake
Charles and 200 miles into the Gulf. There
are seven ports under his watch which include Freeport, Galveston, Texas City,
Houston, Port Arthur, Beaumont, and Lake Charles. Captain Donohue gave us an informative talk
about our sector!
The USCG is divided into
nine sectors. Captain Donohue is the Commander
of the largest which is the 8th District. The 8th District has been growing
in number of vessels and tonnage over the past few years. The USCG’s Houston Vessel Traffic
Services (VTS) Area had 230,000 vessel movements which includes tug tows, ships
and ferries. Houston VTS has been
working hard to track all the activity on the waterways. The data the USCG gathered by using
heat maps has helped with their ability to track collisions, allisions, and
groundings, and it helped them implement better standards. Now USCG Houston-Galveston is
attempting to reduce the number of fires on vessels and area facilities/refineries
which are along the waterways due to 2023 there was a number of fires caused by
the hot summer. They are attempting to
come up with a plan which may include a possible emergency area or harbor of
refuge which will be like an emergency off ramp in a safe place where the
vessel wouldn’t impede traffic on the Houston Ship Channel.
Captain Donohue touched on the
number of public and private organizations which involve the area’s waterway
and ports. These organizations want to improve security and
safety as well as help us with improving our cybersecurity at local facilities
and ports! If you want to be involved or have questions
you would like answered, here are a couple he mentioned: Lonestar Harbor Safety Committee and Houston Ship Channel Security District. The USCG are involved in the communities
they protect!
Captain Donohue touched on the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) which is part of the United
Nations. IMO is in charge of the
waterways, and they have international agreements and international standards which
apply its members in 175 countries. They
met this past year and outlined a plan to have zero greenhouse gas emissions by
2050. If you would like to know more,
please check out our Blog on July 6th and 10th, 2023. We give you the short list of their
plan.
Thank you, Captain Donohue! You are an interesting and informative
speaker, and we are looking forward to seeing how the Coast Guard improves the safety
and efficiency on the waterways in this part of the Gulf of Mexico!
As you see the speakers at the GHPB’s
Commerce Club Luncheons bring an informative talk to all that
attend. The next Commerce Club
Luncheon is March 14, 2024, at 11 a.m.
The speaker will be Tony Chovanec, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Products
Partners. Mr. Chovanec spoke last year,
and we can’t wait to hear what his insights on energy are for this year! Please check out the website, if you would
like to learn more. March 2024 Commerce Club Luncheon - Greater Houston Port Bureau (txgulf.org)
If you would like help in
figuring out how to get your product moving with less of a carbon footprint,
contact us via email on the blog or give us a call: 281-901-5554. Check out our ESC's website!
We hope you have a great and
productive rest your week!