Port of Brownsville Recognizes Welding Works International with Annual Chairman’s Award

BROWNSVILLE, Texas—Tuesday, December 3, 2019— Welding Works International, Inc. has been named the Port of Brownsville 2019 Chairman’s Award honoree in recognition of the company’s 20-plus years of setting a high standard in safety training and providing ongoing contributions to the well-being of the Rio Grande Valley community.

Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed presented the award to Welding Works President Alfredo de la Fuente at the Customer Appreciation Luncheon event held on December 3. The event was attended by more than 200 guests, including port tenants, business leaders and local, regional and state public officials.

“Welding Works International is a homegrown success story that is well-known for supporting a range of services to South Texas,” said Reed. “With large scale-industrial projects expected to kick-off at the port,

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NEWS RELEASE: Three New LNG Projects Moving Forward at the Port of Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE, Texas—Thursday, November 21, 2019— The Port of Brownsville is one step closer to welcoming three new LNG projects with an investment totaling $38.75 billion after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved their proposals today during its monthly commission meeting.

“Today’s announcement is another significant milestone in making these energy projects a reality and is the result of years of hard work by the applicants,” said John Reed, Chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District. “We’d like to thank FERC for its effort and diligence in reviewing these proposals and thank our community for their support. These new energy projects reflect our long-term strategy and vision for the port to be a catalyst for economic growth in the Rio Grande Valley by encouraging domestic and international business investments and driving develo

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Special Feature: Deep Thinking

Editor’s Note: This article is featured in the latest edition of the Port of Brownsville Directory

Arguably, the most valuable asset of any port is the depth of its channel.

The depth of a port’s channel can be compared to the length of an airport’s runway. The longer the runway, the bigger the planes. The deeper the channel, the bigger the ships.

For example, with just one more inch of draft – or depth – a ship can carry 770,000 additional bushels of wheat valued at more than $60,000.

The Port of Brownsville plans to deepen its channel from 42 feet to 52 feet – 10 feet deeper! With that much additional draft, the cost savings for shipping goods across the Earth’s oceans reach an economy of scale far greater that those of the one-inch example. Which also means, more jobs to handle more cargo at the Port of Brownsville.

The port’s cu

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Special Feature: Building the Future From the Past at the Port of Brownsville

The Port of Brownsville knows shipbuilding and ship recycling, a combination of disciplines found nowhere else in the Lone Star State.

With shipbuilding DNA in its heritage, Keppel AmFELS is making waves at the Port of Brownsville. In late-April 2019, dignitaries participated in the ceremonial keel-laying of the M/V George III and the cutting of the first steel plate for the M/V Janet Marie. Delivery for both 774-foot-long vessels is set for 2020.

Keppel, traditionally the port’s largest employer and the foremost U.S. offshore rig builder, recently won construction contracts for the two container ships for Honolulu-based Pasha Hawaii, with options for two more. The contracts, valued at $400 million by Keppel, mean 700 new well-paying jobs at the port in 2019 and a new industry for Texas. The twin U.S. Jones Act vessels carry up to 2,525 TEUs and utilize Keppel’s proprietary LNG

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Port of Brownsville Recognizes Truck Drivers

The Port of Brownsville along with the entire trucking industry is honoring the millions of professional truck drivers who work to deliver America’s freight safely and securely every day.

During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (Sept. 9-13), the Port of Brownsville will offer free breakfast and lunch to truck drivers doing business with the port. The port also partnered with the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority to distribute 500 giveaway bags to truck drivers at the Foust and SH 550 entrances.

On a daily basis the Port of Brownsville welcomes 800 to 1,000 trucks that enter the port to pick up cargo and deliver it across the nation. The types of commodities they carry- petroleum based products, sugar, salt, windmill components and steal- serve as the backbone of several industries in the U.S.

There are more than 3.5 million professional truck drivers nationwid

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Two New Mobile Cranes Coming to Brownsville

In June of this year, the Port of Brownsville ordered two new mobile harbor cranes increasing its dockside handling capacity as the seaport experiences higher cargo volumes across its range of services.

The two new Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 mobile harbor cranes will be delivered to the port fully assembled and commissioned, ready to begin work as early as December 2019. The cranes will handle a wide variety of cargo including breakbulk, bulk products, heavy project cargo and steel products.

The Model 6 cranes have advanced mobile harbor crane drive technology from Konecranes that meets EPA Tier 4f emission standards, helping the Port of Brownsville reduce its environmental footprint.

“The Port of Brownsville continues to invest significantly in its continued growth, including expansion of our on-dock lifting capacity,” said Eduardo A. Campirano, Port Director and CEO of th

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$3 Billion and 51,000 Jobs is Only the Beginning at the Port of Brownsville

By John Reed

Chairman Brownsville Navigation District

The latest economic impact report shows that the Port of Brownsville generated $3 billion in annual economic activity that produced $201 million in tax revenues and supported more than 51,000 jobs across Texas. And we’re just getting started.

As the only deep-water port on the US-Mexico border, the Port of Brownsville is a unique resource in the complex world of logistics. We are strategically located close to major manufacturing centers, energy sources and agriculture markets in both the United States and Mexico. We have convenient rail and interstate highway access into both countries, connecting shippers and producers with markets around the world. We support more than 230 companies currently operating at the port, providing a reliable base for local jobs, taxes and economic activity for the entire regi

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Special Feature: Enabling Economic Evolution

After years of courtship, community input, planning and permitting, largescale industrial development is about to transform the Rio Grande Valley’s economic landscape with billions of dollars of investment and thousands of new jobs at the Port of Brownsville.

Three liquified natural gas projects, representing a combined projected investment of $38.75 billion[1] are in the homestretch of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitting, with final investment decisions expected by late 2019 and 2020. Not to be outdone, Arkansas-based Big River Steel is refining its strategy to locate a $1.6 billion electric arc steel mill at the port. These successes are attracting additional industrial development to the port and Brownsville, supported by a youthful, educated, abundant and motivated workforce. No other domestic maritime complex rivals the Port of B

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Port of Brownsville Update on KURV’s Radio Show

Port Director and CEO Eduardo A. Campirano was recently a guest on KURV’s radio show “The Valley’s Morning News”.

Campirano spoke about the Port of Brownsville’s economic impact in the Rio Grande Valley as reported by an independent analysis conducted by Martin Associates.  The report shows that the Port of Brownsville serves as a major economic driver in the development of jobs and revenue in the Rio Grande Valley.

“The port does have a very significant impact not only in the region, but also contributes greatly overall to the maritime industry in the state of Texas.” said Campirano.

Listen to the interview HERE

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Study Shows Positive Economic Impact by the Port of Brownsville

 Major Activity at the Port Supports Increase in Jobs and Revenue for the State and Region

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (August 22, 2019) — In Texas where a trade-friendly economy is growing, the Port of Brownsville supports a total of $3 billion in total economic activity for the state and is responsible for more than 51,000 jobs within the borders.

Such findings are based on an independent analysis conducted by Martin Associates on port activity for the 2018 calendar year.

“We celebrated a record year in tonnage earlier and are pleased to see our economic impact set a strong foundation for future growth,” said John Reed, Brownsville Navigation District Chairman. “The numbers on local job growth speak for themselves as factors in the port’s development into a hub of business activity.”

The Port of Brownsville has become a major center for industr

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Special Feature: Mexico Makes Sense

The Port of Brownsville’s proximity to Mexico, Latin America’s second largest economy, uniquely positions the port as the nation’s key transshipment gateway delivering goods and commodities to nearby multinational manufacturing centers on both sides of the border.

Ranking among the top U.S. steel ports, the Port of Brownsville moves more steel into Mexico than any other domestic competitor.  In 2018, the port moved 3.2 million short tons of steel across the southern border.

Nearby Monterrey is a major industrial center in northern Mexico with a metropolitan population of nearly 5 million and home to dozens of commonly recognized international corporations. Monterrey is located 200 miles due west from the Port of Brownsville, where steel makers have come to rely upon the logistical efficiencies provided by the port. Convenient border crossings are located just seven miles fro

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Signet Maritime: Twenty One Years Prioritizing Safety

In June Signet Maritime celebrated 21 years of tugboat operations at the Port of Brownsville

The company’s full-service navigation center at the Brownsville ship channel provides ship, barge and rig movements as well as harbor tugboat operations since 1998. The Brownsville fleet includes three tugboats, the Signet Defender, Signet Ranger and the Signet Magic. These high-powered tugs assist ships and barges, often more than ten times their size, navigate through the 17-mile long ship channel.

The port’s intermodal expansion and continued growth have led to a higher demand for Signet’s services.

“As the years go by, we are starting to have bigger ships and bigger barges, oil rigs and new demand for more power,” said Ida Treviño, Signet Maritime Operations Manager. Treviño has worked with the company since its inception at the Port of Brownsville.

“Tugboat captains

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Keppel AmFELS is Building Ships

Keppel AmFELS is building ships at the Port of Brownsville, introducing a new industry to the state of Texas.

To facilitate the construction of deep-draft vessels at Keppel’s shipyard, the port partnered with the company to build a Public Vessel Assembly and Erection Pad. The project was completed July 31.

The assembly pad, measuring 292 ft. wide and 1,102 ft. long, is used to assemble Jones Act vessels to transport cargo along the U.S. coast from one domestic port to another. The Jones Act is a federal law regulating maritime commerce in the U.S. The law requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned and operated only by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration awarded the port a $1.8 million grant for the construction of the pad. The total cost of the project was $5.3

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Grain Overseas: Bulk Cargo Dock Rehabilitation Nears Completion

The Port of Brownsville will resume exporting grains by vessel with the rehabilitation of the bulk cargo dock scheduled for completion in August.
The renovation project is part of an agreement the port entered with West Plains LLC in 2016 to restore and operate the grain elevator, with capacity to store three million bushels of grain. Since restoration efforts began, West Plains has invested multiple millions of dollars in its facility, while the port has pitched another $5.5 million to the project.
The bulk cargo dock will work in tandem with the renovated grain elevator to give South Texas and Mexican grain producers access to international markets. Once complete, the modern facilities will be equipped with efficient and high-speed handling of grain through all modes of transportation – truck, rail and vessel loading and unloadin

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Port of Brownsville Update on KURV’s Radio Show

Port Director and CEO Eduardo A. Campirano was recently a guest on KURV’s radio show “The Valley’s Morning News”.

Campirano spoke about the record-breaking year the port experienced in 2018, as well at the steel industry and other important projects that are helping transform the economic landscape of the Rio Grande Valley.

Listen to the interview HERE

 

Ranking among the top U.S. steel ports, the Port of Brownsville moves more steel into Mexico than any other domestic competitor. In 2018, the port moved 3.2 million short tons of steel across the southern border.

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