Happy Thursday and Friday! Sorry; we didn’t get this published until today! It was one of those overscheduled days!
We went to the Greater Houston Port Bureau’s (GHPB) Commerce
Club Luncheon at the Houston Marriot South at Hobby Airport today.
The speaker was Phyllis Saathoff,
Executive Port Director/CEO of Port Freeport. Ms. Saathoff has been in
the port industry for over thirty years! She has been the CEO of Port Freeport
since 2016. Ms. Saathoff and her team
have helped with the development and expansion of the port by bringing more
companies and improvement projects. She decided
to give us a short history lesson on this lucrative port with her inspiration
being Charlie Jenkins of Port Houston a speaker from earlier this year at a
Commerce Club Luncheon. (Check out our
Blog in February from the Commerce Club Luncheon.)
Ms. Saathoff gave us a brief
history on Port Freeport. This
year is Port Freeport is celebrating its centennial year! In 1821, Stephen F. Austin landed at the
mouth of the Brazos River. It wasn’t the
port we know today, nonetheless it is where it had its humble beginnings. In 1824, a colony was started, and they
realized the river needed to be diverted, if they were going to develop a
port. The good people of the area went
to the U.S. government for help, and they were given federal funds and other
monies to develop a port for commerce.
At the end of the 1890s, the US Government decided the port had value
and took over developing and building the channel and port. In 1925, the good citizens voted to establish
Brazos River Harbor Navigation District which is a deepwater port. Once the port authority was established, they
decided on a Board of 3 elected commissioners, and seven and a half miles of
the Brazos River was moved. By 1929,
they were almost finished on this small humble port. In 1936, the port established the public
docks. In the 1960s, the port’s Board
was expanded to six elected officials.
The channel has been deepened or the river’s opening widened were some
of the changes done over the years to expand the port. The current deepening of the channel should
be finished this year. In the 2010s,
they expanded the public docks and the Velasco Container Terminal, and the
improvements are still coming!
Ms. Saathoff gave us a rundown of
the port’s current projects. The Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project received its starting designation in 2020, and
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock started dredging the channel in the Spring of
2021, and the project was given a four-year timeline. The channel will be deepened to 56-feet and partially widened and should conclude by the end of the year in time to be part of its
centennial celebration. Ms. Saathoff
spoke on the Velasco Container Terminal which is in its Phase 2 of its project six
paved acres and 15 acres are still under construction and 10 acres are expected
to be part of the 2026 Fiscal Year budget.
The Velasco Container Terminal’s final part of Phase 2 will be having two
Post-Panamax Gantry Cranes installed.
Ms. Saathoff spoke of the new security gate which should be opening
soon. Then, she briefly spoke on the new infrastructure the port will be developing
now it has received $22.6 million from the Texas Department of Transportation
and $22 million from the U.S Department of Transportation. Ms. Saathoff mentioned the port received
funding from the Clean Port Federal grants and they will be choosing a grant
manager soon. Well, this was the rundown
of her current projects coming or happening now at Port Freeport.
Thank you, Phyllis Saathoff! You are an interesting and informative
speaker, and we are looking forward to seeing what Port Freeport does
next!
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 May 8, 2025, at 11 a.m.
The guest speaker at the next luncheon is Barbara Pickering, President,
Chevron Shipping Company. She should
give us a good talk on issues affecting the maritime industry. Ms.
Pickering spoke at the GHPB’s Women of Maritime Happy Hour and she gave
an informative talk. Please check out
the website, if you would like to learn more.
May 2025 Commerce Club Luncheon - Greater Houston Port Bureau.
If you would like help in
figuring out how to get your product moving with less of a carbon footprint,
contact us via the email on the Blog or give us a call: 281-901-5554. Check out our ESC website!
We hope you have a fun and relaxing weekend!