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Port of Galveston

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Submitted By sahara98
Words 1369
Pages 6
History
Galveston Island was discovered by Juan de Grijalva in 1519 with the first settlement established in 1816 by French Privateer Louis-Michel Aury. Over three hundred years later, the Port of Galveston was officially established as a port in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico making it the oldest port west of New Orleans. But its unofficial roots can be traced to 1817 when pirate Jean Lafitte landed on Galveston Island and made it the base for his operations. Through the 1800’s and into the 1900’s the Port of Galveston grew to be one of the busiest ports in the United States second only to New York City. Common cargoes handled during the boom years included cotton, wheat, cattle and rice.

Today
Fast forward to today and The Port of Galveston is an enterprise utility of the City of Galveston receiving no tax payer support. The port is overseen by a six person Board of Trustees appointed by the City Council. The Port Director is responsible for the day to day activity of the Port with the Board providing input on policy and direction. The port is essentially a landlord port and therefore not involved with the operations of its “tenants”, but structures leases and agreements so there is a return on its investments. But the port is not guided solely on attaining a ROI but also seeks to act as an economic driver for the region so job creation is a key component in decision making.

Attributes
The Port of Galveston is located on the northern shore of the barrier island of Galveston. The port benefits from a short one hour pilotage from the Gulf of Mexico and a channel that is dredged to a depth of 45 feet. The port has a total of 850 acres available of which 350 acres is developed and 500 acres of green field. The Port is serviced by two Class 1 railroads - Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Road and the Union Pacific Rail Road. Galveston Rail Road with its 38 miles of track is the short line that links the port to the Class 1 railroads. Foreign Trade Zone 36 has available warehouse space, undeveloped land and warehouse operator services available for those seeking the benefits that an FTZ offers. The Port of Galveston services three main industry segments: cargo, offshore and cruise.

Cargo
Commodities handled through the port include fruit, bulk fertilizer, bulk grains, bulk liquids, project, wind energy, ro/ro, breakbulk, military, linerboard, containerized cargo and livestock. For 2014, 846 ships called the Port of Galveston with 4.9 million short tons of cargo handled.
The bulk liquid terminal operated by Pelican Island Storage Terminal Inc. offers storage and transshipment of bulk liquid products and supplies bunker and diesel fuel. The terminal serves deep draft vessels, ocean-going barges, and intra-costal barges and has a bulk storage capacity of 775,000 barrels of bulk commodity.
The export grain elevator is operated by ADM Grain Company exports bulk grain. The facility offers truck and rail services with a railcar unloading capacity of 1600 metric tons per hour and a vessel loading capacity of 2,000 metric tons per hour. Storage capacity is 3,000,000 bushels.
Piers 10, 37 and 39 operate as ro/ro terminals with imports and exports of new and used construction, agricultural machinery, military as well as breakbulk, and cars to the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Australia and the Far East. Shipping lines calling those berths include Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, Hoegh, and K-Line that use the Port of Galveston as their Gulf port of entry. The port is currently working on a major deal with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics that will mean significant new car volumes imported from Europe starting in 2016.
Del Monte Fresh Produce operates at Piers 16-18 and imports fresh fruit (mainly bananas) from Central America. The facility includes a 1,203-foot two-berth dock and 65,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouse space. Linerboard which comes into the facility by rail is exported back to Central America and is then made into the boxes that are shipped back to Galveston.
Pier 34 has seen the exportation of cattle to Russia as well as the importation and storage of wind energy accoutrements including blades, towers and naecells.
Pier 39 is operated by Suderman Contracting Stevedores and offers the storage and transshipment of bulk cement.

Offshore Industries
Malin International Ship Repair and Drydock is a marine repair facility located at Pier 41 and provides maintenance and repair services to vessels and drilling rigs. The facility has 2,600 feet of berthing space, 16,000 square feet of machine and pipe / pipe fabrication shop and coatings shop and offers crane services and mobile crews 24 hours a day.
The Pelican Island Marine Repair Facility is operated by Gulf Copper Drydock and Rig Repair. The facility offers maintenance and repair of vessels and offshore rigs. Additional services include fabrication areas and equipment to support modular construction, pier space and services to accommodate various types of floating structures to include repair, modifications, construction, engineering, and environmental services to the marine and offshore industry. The facility is 107 acres and the drydock has a 60,000-ton lift capacity.

Cruise
The first cruise ship docked at the Port of Galveston in 1974. Today, the Port of Galveston cruise terminal ranks 1st for cruise passengers in the Gulf of Mexico, 4th in the United States and 7th in the world. Cruise ship lines calling on the Port of Galveston have included Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Princess. The Port of Galveston has two cruise ship terminals which are able to accommodate 1.5 million passengers per year. The cruise ship terminals are just minutes from Scholes International Airport, 45 minutes from William P. Hobby Airport, and just over an hour from Bush Intercontinental Airport. These close and convenient options are a key feature passengers seek when weighing options for a cruise. With over 1.1 million passengers passing through the Port of Galveston terminal in 2014 and half of the revenues the Port of Galveston receives related to the cruise industry, it is very clear that the cruise ships are enormously important to the port.

Other
(The Port of Galveston also leases space to entities not typically associated with a major port).
Pier 19 is operated by the Galveston marina for commercial fishing boats. It offers dock space and services for commercial shrimping and fishing boats.
The “Window on the Waterfront” is a tourist-oriented facility which features: * 1877 Iron Barque ELISSA * Ocean Star Drilling Rig Museum * Texas Seaport Museum * Waterfront Inn * Restaurants / Shops / Theaters / Art galleries Economic Impact/Jobs
The Port boasts an economic impact of $3.1 billion of economic activity to the state and provides 13,000 direct, indirect, induced and related jobs regionally.

Competitors
Although one could argue that the Port of Galveston competes with ports all along the gulf coast (and beyond) its main competitors today include Freeport, Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi in Texas and New Orleans in Louisiana. * Freeport – B/B, project cargo, wind energy, roro, cars * Houston – B/B, project cargo, wind energy, cruise, roro, cars * Beaumont – B/B, project cargo, military, grain * Corpus Christi – B/B, project cargo, military, wind energy, grain * New Orleans – B/B, project cargo, cruise, grain

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
* Quick access to the Gulf of Mexico * Dredged to 45’ (deep water) * Class 1 railroads * Geographically located near Houston (4th largest population in the United States) * Diverse – not reliant on limited revenue streams
Weaknesses
* Infrastructure is in poor shape * No supporting tax base * Highly leveraged * Weak revenues * 500 acre green field, but no existing rail component to get there

Opportunities

* Well positioned geographically to capitalize on Panama Canal expansion * Well positioned geographically to capitalize on opportunities created by Cuba trade * 500 acre green field

Threats * Ports with more land (ie Port of Freeport) * Ports with more money/better financed (ie Port of Houston) * Weather / hurricane threats (Galveston is a barrier island)

Conclusion
The Port of Galveston has positioned itself as a tremendously diverse port with key features that make it a very attractive place to do business today and in the future.

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