Container-On-Barge Service Connects Texas With Florida

BY STEVE CLARK / The Brownsville Herald

Article published Thursday, January 28, 2021

A persistent shortage of truck drivers in the United States has helped pry open a window of opportunity for the Port of Brownsville in the form of container-on barge shipping.

The port has tried it before, more than a decade ago with a Florida company called Seabridge Freight Inc., which operated a tug barge line between Brownsville and Port Manatee, Fla., though in the end it didn’t work out. This time around, it’s a different story. Work Cat Trans Gulf LLC, also based in Florida, has been running a weekly short-sea shipping operation between Brownsville and Port Tampa Bay since mid-August consisting entirely of 53-foot shipping containers.

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2020 Year In Review Highlights

The year 2020 brought many challenges to our port family and community. Despite these hurdles, the Port of Brownsville staff, tenants and business partners were able to navigate these rough waters and achieve important milestones throughout the year. Relive the promising announcements of 2020 that make 2021 a year to look forward to.

 

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Dominion Energy Continues Development of First Jones Act Compliant Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessel

 

 

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 16, 2020  — Dominion Energy announced it has reached a major milestone – the keel laying – in the construction of the first Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel, currently being constructed by the global marine shipbuilding firm Keppel AmFELS at its Brownsville, Texas shipyard. With several gigawatts of offshore wind capacity to be installed along the U.S. East Coast in the next decade, access to Jones Act compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessels is of strategic importance to the U.S. offshore wind market.

The companies celebrated the keel laying on Dec. 16 when fabrications from the first steel, supplied domestically, were laid to form the first part of the keel – the bottom-most central steel structural

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TEXAS LNG ANNOUNCES LONG-TERM LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE PORT OF BROWNSVILLE

Houston, Texas, Dec. 17, 2020 — Texas LNG Brownsville LLC has entered into a long-term lease agreement with the Port of Brownsville, successfully securing the Texas LNG export project site for up to 50 years. The lease agreement is an important milestone bringing the FERC permitted project closer to a final investment decision (FID), while also confirming to liquefied natural gas buyers that Texas LNG is well-positioned to support the continued growth of the LNG market.

The lease agreement covers a 625-acre site located within the Port of Brownsville. Texas LNG plans to construct and operate a 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG export terminal on a deepwater frontage site previously secured under an exclusive option to the Lease agreement.

Vivek Chandra, Founder and CEO of Texas LNG LLC (a minority owner of the Texas

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PORT PROGRESS: 2020 was a Year of Milestones

BY STEVE CLARK/ The Brownsville Herald
Article published Sunday,  January  3, 2021

Port of Brownsville officials have reasons to look back on 2020 with fondness despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic. The port started off the year by announcing its Foreign Trade Zone’s rank among the top three in the nation for value of exports according to the U.S. FTZ Board annual report to Congress based on figures from 2018. Then in May, officials were able to announce a record-setting $8.9 billion in combined imports and exports for 2019 within its FTZ No. 62.

The total value of export shipments through the FTZ hit $4.3 billion in 2019, up from $3.8 billion the year before. The port also saw $4.6 billion in imports, the highest in the FTZ’s 40-year history. The numbers were driven mainly by petroleum products, shipbuilding equipment, steel aluminum and wind-energy pr

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Sixth U.S. Navy Ship to be Recycled in 2020 Arrives at Port

The USS Stephen W. Groves has completed her final journey to International Shipbreaking Ltd.’s  facility at the Port of Brownsville where she will be recycled. Her arrival marks the sixth U.S. Navy vessel contract awarded ISL this year.

 The USS Stephen W. Groves was moored at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard since having been decommissioned in 2012. She made her final journey to ISL’s facility where she arrived Nov. 19.

Armed with one MK 75 76mm/62 caliber firing gun, MK 32 ASW torpedo tubes (two triple mounts) and one Phalanx CIWS for anti-submarine warfare, she boasted 1-MK 13 Mod 4 launcher, 4-SSM McDonnell-Douglas Harpoon missiles and 36-GDC-Pomona Standard SM-1MR missiles. The guided missile frigate also had 1 OTO Melara MK 75 3″/62 cal., 1 Vulcan Phalanx CIS and 4-.50 cal. MGs guns.

During her 30-year career, USS Stephen

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This Year, ‘Thank You’ Means More

By Sergio Tito Lopez/Brownsville Navigation District Chairman

Saying “thank you” is an often-underrated privilege, but 2020 requires an extra note of appreciation to those who continue to drive remarkable success at the Port of Brownsville for everyone’s benefit.

The port historically invites its customers and supporters to gather each December for the annual Customer Appreciation Luncheon, where “thank you” is the central theme. COVID-19 clearly altered our plans for an in-person event this year, but the pandemic has not dampened our enthusiasm for saying thanks. Our community continues to grapple with the pandemic’s effects upon our daily lives and wellbeing, but our shared experience has made us closer in many ways – even while being apart.

As the new Chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District, it is my privilege to offer thanks to those wh

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Port of Brownsville Recognizes Keppel AmFELS with 2020 Chairman’s Award

BROWNSVILLE, Texas— December 3, 2020— The Port of Brownsville presented Keppel AmFELS with its 2020 Chairman’s Award in recognition of the company’s important work reintroducing shipbuilding to both the state of Texas and Brownsville.

Brownsville Navigation District Chairman Sergio Tito Lopez presented the award to Mohd Sahlan Bin Salleh, president and CEO of Keppel AmFELS, on Dec. 3 during a special presentation at the Port of Brownsville. Keppel’s important work has helped build the ship building industry locally, bringing approximately 1,400 fulltime jobs to the Rio Grande Valley community.

“For decades, Keppel AmFELS has not only brought new jobs and opportunities, but their skill and expertise has attracted new contracts and opportunities to residents of the Rio Grande Valley,” said Chairman Lopez. “For example, they are nearing comple

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Sergio Tito Lopez Named BND Commission Chairman

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Nov. 18, 2020 – Sergio Tito Lopez was unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020.

Lopez also was sworn in as a commissioner, along with Ralph Cowen and John Reed, all reelected to the commission Nov. 3. Lopez serves as chairman alongside BND Vice Chairman Cowen and Secretary Esteban Guerra, who were also unanimously elected to serve as part of the executive board. Commissioners John Wood and Reed round out the board as assistant secretaries.

Lopez previously served as chairman from 2012-2014. The BND is the elected authority for the Port of Brownsville in Brownsville, Texas, setting policy and fiscal decisions for the port.

 

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Port of Brownsville Foreign Trade Zone Ranks Number 2 in the U.S. for Value of Exports

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — November 17, 2020 — For the eighth year in a row, Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 (FTZ) at the Port of Brownsville remains near the top in the nation for the value of exports,  according to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board’s annual report to Congress released on November 13, 2020.

FTZ No. 62 ranks second in the country with more than $4.3 billion in exported goods in 2019, an increase from the $3.8 billion reported in 2018. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the port’s FTZ has consistently ranked in the top three for exports out of 193 FTZs nationwide since 2012. Additionally, FTZ No. 62 ranks number 18 in the nation for the value of imports totaling $4.6 billion, up from $3.69 billion in goods reported in 2018.

“These are the highest numbers we’ve seen in the zone’s history, which highlight the importance of the Port

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Mexican Steel Mill to Benefit Brownsville

BY STEVE CLARK / The Brownsville Herald

Article published Sunday,  November 8, 2020

 

A major steel mill expansion in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, is expected to have a big impact on the Port of Brownsville as a steel importer/exporter and boost job creation locally, according to port officials.

Port Director and CEO Eduardo Campirano said the multi-billion-dollar expansion of Monterrey’s Ternium Pesqueria mill, owned by Ternium S.A., the port’s largest steel customer and the biggest steel producer in Latin America, means more steel production at the mill.

More production requires more feedstock, which means more steel slab moving through the port — most of it from a Brazilian mill also owned by Ternium, he said. The Pesqueria mill largely supplies Mexico’s automobile manufacturing sect

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Hamilton & CIA USA LLC Expands with New Port of Brownsville Office to Service the Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Industry

Hamilton USA & CIA USA LLC opened new offices at the Port of Brownsville, the only deepwater port on the US-Mexico border, to expand the company’s services to the region’s growing oil and gas industry.

Hamilton USA , a Transcoma Shipping Company, received its Steamship Agency Licenses at the Port of Brownsville in June and provides customs brokerage, freight forwarding and warehousing, engineering support, secured long-term and short-term covered and open storage, equipment preservation and other services for shippers. With the tax advantages that exist by conducting business within the Port of Brownsville’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) – one of the top three in the nation specializing in petroleum products, steel and metals – Hamilton USA’s Brownsville office is ideally situated to take advantage of “twin plant” cross-border operations. The company offers expertise an

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BND General Election: Official Election Results

****OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS****

Brownsville Navigation District General Election November 3rd, 2020

Early Voting results, mail-in ballots, provisional ballots, plus 59 of 59 precincts reported.

Commissioner, Place 1

  • Ralph Cowen             46,381

Commissioner, Place 3

  • Julio Graña                26,363
  • John Reed                  26,568

Commissioner, Place 5

  • Sergio Tito Lopez     38,898
  • Bill Berg                     13,269

Unofficial results were canvassed during the Brownsville Navigation District’s regular board meeting held Nov. 17, 2020. For more information visit the Cameron County Elections and Voter Registration Department website Read More

Port PD Chief Garcia Appointed to State Task Force  

Port of Brownsville Chief of Police Carlos Garcia has been appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to serve on the Task Force on Disaster Issues Affecting Persons who are Elderly and Persons with Disabilities.

Garcia will act as chair of the task force that will study methods to more effectively accommodate persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities before, during, and after a disaster or emergency evacuation. His term is set to expire on February 1 , 2023.

The Port of Brownsville Police and Security Department, led by Garcia, is comprised of 13 sworn police officers, eight security guards, and one administrative assistant. Prior to joining the port, Garcia served as Chief of Police for the City of Brownsville from 2001 until 2011. He is a member of the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the Texas Police Association. He received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from

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