Ike debris sparks ship traffic jam

18 September 2008 19:54  [Source: ICIS news]

By Lane Kelley

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A  traffic jam of ships in the Gulf of Mexico continued to grow as a result of debris in the Houston Ship Channel from Hurricane Ike and a power outage at the Port of Houston, officials said on Thursday.

The Coast Guard said there were 164 vessels waiting to get into the Houston Ship Channel early Thursday so they could unload at the Port of Houston, but their greatest obstacle was debris blown into Galveston harbour and the 50-mile long channel.

"We can't really let a large boat with a big draft in yet," said Coast Guard petty officer Victoria Bonk.

The Coast Guard said on Thursday the ship channel was open at all times to ships with a draft of 16 feet or less, but would be open for daylight transit only from Seas Buoy in Galveston to Sims Bayou at project depth and from Sims Bayou to the Turning Basin for ships with a draft of 30 feet or less.

Daylight passage was required so ship pilots could see debris and other obstacles.

But a Port of Houston official blamed the shipping traffic jam on a lack of power there.

"We do not, we do not, we do not have power," said Argentina James, the port's director of public affairs. "CenterPoint has not made it a priority to get our power on."

CenterPoint Energy is the main electrical utility in the Houston area.

Leticia Lowe, spokeswoman for CenterPoint, said the utility was waiting for the Coast Guard to provide a list of priority spots at the port for re-establishing power.

"We've been working to establish power with all our key facilities and they certainly would be one of them," Lowe said.

The port on Wednesday received full clearance by the Coast Guard for all of its facilities, but James said electrical power was yet to be restored.

James said the Houston port had full power at the Bayport Cruise Terminal, but she said the most crucial point, the Barbour's Cut Container Terminal, was operating on generator power and could not accept container ships.

"When they open the stores there's still going to be nothing on the shelves because the ships can't get in," James said.

"At some point they're going to have to divert to another port, which is what we don't want them to do," James added. "They can't be sitting out there at a sea buoy forever."

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By: Lane Kelley
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