Hurricane Beryl recovery update

10 Jul 2024 / Texas, United States

The Captain of the Port (COTP) Houston-Galveston has set Port Condition Recovery for Houston, Texas City, Galveston and Freeport, as well as the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from the Colorado Locks going east to High Island Bridge.

Channels have been partially opened with draft restrictions, in some cases daylight only.

However, much of Houston and parts of Freeport are still without power so many terminals will not be able to take vessels even with the channel open.

The COTP is working with coordinating agencies to deploy survey vessels to verify the condition of the waterways. Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) currently has degraded communications, AIS, and radar capability.

To initiate a phased opening of the ports and waterways listed below, the following conditions are set:

  • The Port of Galveston and Port of Texas City, including the entrance channels, are open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 30 feet or less and daylight only. Transits are limited to commercial vessels only with prior authorization from VTS.
  • The Port of Houston and its entrance channel is open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 35 feet or less and daylight only. Transits are limited to commercial vessels only with prior authorization from VTS.
  • The Port of Freeport and its entrance channel is open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 36 feet or less and daylight only. Deep draft commercial vessel transits must coordinate closely with the Brazos Pilots.
  • The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from the Colorado Locks going east to Pelican Cut is closed to vessel traffic.
  • The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from Bolivar going east to High Island Bridge is open to commercial vessel traffic.
  • All upper Houston Ship Channel barge transits require prior approval from the VTS watch supervisor at (281) 464-4836.
  • The upper Houston Ship Channel from Buffalo Bayou turning basin to Lynchburg is open for barge traffic one way only inbound during the time of 0600 to 1200 and 1800 to midnight.
  • The upper Houston Ship Channel from Buffalo Bayou turning basin to Lynchburg is open for barge traffic one way only outbound during the times of 1200-1800 and midnight to 0600.
  • The upper Houston Ship Channel from Lynchburg to the GICW is open for barge traffic during daylight only.
  • Barge fleeting and Light Boat operations are authorized to resume normal operations.
  • Facilities may commence over water cargo operations if not listed on the Sector Houston-Galveston Homeport facility post storm assessments list.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in the United States, contact GAC North America at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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