Happy Thursday!
We went to the scheduled Greater Houston Port Bureau (GHPB) Commerce
Club Luncheon at the Houston Marriot South at Hobby Airport today.
The speakers were a panel
speaking on Brown-water/Blue-water. The speakers
were Captain Clint Winegar, Houston Pilots Association and Alberto Hernandez
II, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and Nathan Hough, Campbell Transportation,
and the Moderator was Captain Eric Carrero of the Greater Houston Port Bureau who
are all part of the Port Coordination Team (PCT). You are asking what is "brown-water" and "blue-water." "Brown-water" is basically an inland coastal waterway like the Houston Ship Channel. "Blue-water" is basically the open sea or Gulf
of Mexico. The
PCT meets regularly at usually 9 A.M. and the team is a mixture of the government,
industry, and community members. The PCT
has the responsibility to preserve the waterways, make them safe, and make sure
our mariners have safe harbor when conditions merit. The team takes into account the safety of
the mariners who come to our waterways and the conditions of the waterways,
when they make their decisions for what mitigation tactics they will implement. The PCT takes into account all activities of
the waterways which may include weather, special configurations of vessels,
size of the vessels, as well as other factors when they close or delay transits.
They listen to the industry and take
into account how to reopen the waterways, or what tactics to use when anything is
out of the ordinary. PCT is a team who works
with the community to keep things moving.
The PCT was in action recently
for Hurricane Francine. They listened
to the priorities of the community and adjusted shipping traffic
accordingly. The panel pointed out no
two storms are alike, so different tactics are used every time. What they do for a hurricane is vastly different
then when a vessel has a fire in how they maneuver shipping transits or adjust
the activities on the waterways. PCT is
an important group in keeping our waterways moving!
The luncheon panel spoke about VTS. VTS is part of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Houston-Galveston. They are the group of active Coast Guardsmen
and civilians who are the ones who maneuver shipping traffic, or as Director Hernandez
said today, “It’s the mariners 911.”
They are the group which keeps the waterways moving no matter the
conditions 24/7. VTS are the ones on the
phone when the fog rolls in, or when there is a fire on the waterway which needs
to be maneuvered around. They are your
eyes on the Houston Ship Channel and other waterways in the area especially in
foggy and rainy weather. They keep the
waterways flowing. We
should note VTS handles the Houston-Galveston area, and they had 228, 974 VTS transits
in 2023 which is an average of 624.66 transits per day. We are expecting even more this year.
Thank you, PCT Panel! You are an interesting and informative panel,
and we wish you much success returning the area to normalcy after Hurricane
Francine!
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 October 10, 2024, at 11 a.m.
The speaker will be Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D. of the Texas General
Land Office. We hope to see you there! Please check out the website, if you would
like to learn more. October 2024 Commerce Club Luncheon - Greater Houston Port Bureau (txgulf.org).
Check out our previous blogs on
the VTS. We had a couple USCG speak on a
couple occasions in November 2023 and in February on the VTS and the Houston
Ship Channel.
I would like to mention there is
a shortage of USCG and mariners, so check out the U.S. Coast Guard or one of the Mariner
Academies, if you are interested in seeing the world or you like to help the U.S. waterways!
(See our blog yesterday for 3 of the Mariner Academies.)
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!