Port Bureau News

Spotlight on Jeff Hakala Vice President—Ceres Global

Down on the Docks GHPB Stevedoring Companies

Replacing Your Defective TWIC Card at No Cost

New Trucking Regulations: Point/Counterpoint

January 2012 www.txgulf.org

Port Bureau Staff Bill Diehl

Jeannie Angeli

David Cooley

Al Cusick

Cristina Gomez

Janette Molina

Patrick Seeba

Board of Directors *Tom Marian—Chairman

*Dennis Hansell—1st Vice Chair.

*Mike Drieu—2nd Vice Chair.

*John Taylor—Secretary /Treas.

*Robert H. Blades

*Alec Dreyer

*Charles H. Flournoy

*Capt. Steve Conway

*Capt. John G. Peterlin III

*Capt. Richard Russell

*Steve Stewart

*Nathan Wesely

Jim Black

Ken Burnett

Celeste Harris

Jason Hayley

Kevin Hickey

Guy W. Hitt

Charlie Jenkins

Shareen Larmond

Kathy Murray

Jerry Nagel

Vinny Pilegge

Nolan Richardson

Lloyd Schwing

Tim Studdert

Lawrence Waldron

Armando Waterland

Don Welch

*Denotes Executive Committee Mem-bers

Outbound under the I-610 Bridge

Photo Credit: Captain Louis Vest, Houston Pilots Association

Photo Credit: Captain Lou Vest, Houston Pilots Assn.

Captain’s Corner

00 Brian Cushing is the outside linebacker for the Houston Texans and

one of the top players on the number two defense in the National Football

League. But did he get the nod towards the Pro Bowl this year after 110

tackles, 4 sacks, two interceptions and 2 forced fumbles? No. This is dis-

turbing, but before discussing how this relates to maritime commerce I

first need to come clean and tell you that Brain attended my sister’s wed-

ding and is a cousin to her husband. So although Brian doesn’t know me

from any other painted-face-jersey-wearing fan, I am quick to let everyone

know that we are related when he plays well. … When he doesn’t, I blame my sister for marrying poorly.

I’ve heard the argument that Brian did not make the Pro Bowl because—well, we are not on National TV much and

there is a general lack of awareness of the Houston Texans unless you are from here and they’re your hometown team. Well

lack of awareness doesn’t only hurt your chances at Pro Bowl selection, but it also hurts when you’re competing for Congres-

sional appropriations as well, and this is where I draw my not-so-subtle analogy to maritime commerce. There is a general

lack of awareness of the value of our ports to our national economy. I say this because while we’ve been advocating for sup-

port for the legislation (H.R. 104 and S. 412) to obligate Congress to use harbor maintenance taxes on harbor maintenance,

the lions share of our current support lies with Congressional delegations in our port regions. Even though we’re up to 150

sponsors in the House and 30 in the Senate, we have not had a great deal of success of explaining to our inland Congressional

representatives the necessity of our ports to their economies.

Right now for dredging, it’s the fourth quarter and we’re looking at a third-and-long. The hard won deepening and

widening efforts made on the Houston Ship Channel in 2005 are disappearing and the demand for better water transportation

in this nation is being cast aside in a blind rush to gain headway on deficit reduction. We need to muster our best two minute

offense if we are going to convince our leaders that they are making short term, extremely detrimental decisions to our long

term global prosperity by neglecting the very tools that keep us on the field. Our Texas ports bring consumers everything

from golf balls to gasoline, produce good-paying jobs for more than 2 million Americans and generate more than $48 billion in

wages. Our Texas Ports alone generate $285 billion of annual economic activity nationwide. Global trade represents 1/3rd of

our national GDP and more than 95% of that tonnage comes in over water. Yet when the President sets his goal to double

exports within the next five years to help our economy, no mention is made of how

our ports are going to move that commerce. Exports represent American jobs and an

influx of money from foreign investors and consumers. Houston is at the forefront of

the United States export market, but much like our football team—which spent most

of November in first place in the AFC, and has already beat three playoff teams this

year—“we don’t get no respect”. The attached chart shows just how important the

Port of Houston is to our national export picture: 15% of the nation’s exports leave

from our docks—this is clearly Pro Bowl quality. Our national goal is to double ex-

ports, but how are we going to win if we let our ports silt in?

There are lots of components to a successful football team, just as there are

lots of things we need to do to bolster our national econ-

omy, but I see transportation infrastructure like a good

defense: it’ll get you through the good times and bad. I

am headed onto the field (Washington DC) the 6-8th of

February to advocate for Pro Bowl recognition of our

Ship Channels, if you would like to join me, I could use

your help, please call (713) 678-4300.

As for Brian, we hope to still feature him in the

Diehl family reunion touch football game this summer. I

think I can beat him to the corner. I look forward to

working with you in a happy and prosperous New Year.

No Brian Cushing in the Pro Bowl?!

Photo: David J. Phillip, AP Photo: David Bray Photography

A Message from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

US DOT Takes Action to Ensure Truck Driver Rest Time and Improve

Safety Behind the Wheel

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, December 22, 2011, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a final rule that employs the latest research in driver fatigue to make sure truck drivers can get the rest they need to operate safely when on the road. The new rule by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

revises the hours-of-service (HOS) safety requirements for commercial truck drivers.

"Trucking is a difficult job, and a big rig can be deadly when a driver is tired and over-worked," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "This final rule will help prevent fatigue-related truck crashes and save lives. Truck drivers deserve a work environment that allows them to perform their jobs safely."

As part of the HOS rulemaking process, FMCSA held six public listening sessions across the country and encouraged safety advocates, drivers, truck company owners, law enforcement and the public to share their input on HOS requirements. The listening sessions were live webcast on the FMCSA Web site, allowing a broad cross-section of individuals to participate in the development of this safety-critical rule.

"This final rule is the culmination of the most extensive and transparent public outreach effort in our agency's histo-ry," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "With robust input from all areas of the trucking community, coupled with the latest scientific research, we carefully crafted a rule acknowledging that when truckers are rested, alert and focused on safe-ty, it makes our roadways safer."

FMCSA's new HOS final rule reduces by 12 hours the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work within a week. Under the old rule, truck drivers could work on average up to 82 hours within a seven-day period. The new HOS final rule limits a driver's work week to 70 hours.

In addition, truck drivers cannot drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least 30 minutes. Drivers can take the 30-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-

hour window.

The final rule retains the current 11-hour daily driving limit. FMCSA will continue to conduct data analysis and research to further examine any risks associated with the 11 hours of driving time.

The rule requires truck drivers who maxim-ize their weekly work hours to take at least two nights' rest when their 24-hour body clock demands sleep the most - from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. This rest requirement is part of the rule's "34-hour restart" provision that allows drivers to restart the clock on their work week by taking at least 34 con-secutive hours off-duty. The final rule allows drivers to use the restart

provision only once during a seven-day period.

Companies and drivers that commit egregious violations of the rule could face the maximum penalties for each offense. Trucking com-panies that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by 3 or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense, and the drivers them-selves could face civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense.

Commercial truck drivers and companies must comply with the HOS final rule by July 1, 2013. The rule was sent to the Federal Register and is currently available on FMCSA's Web site.

Counterpoint Point

What Port Bureau Members are Saying:

“If the FMCSA intends to carry through with this, it will take an estimated 10% more trucks on the road to handle the current

volume of freight tonnage”

“We can see domestic carriers have to increase the size of their fleets, juggle schedules, and hire more drivers—drivers

who are already in short supply and tough to find.”

“If a driver gets back from a run at 2am on a Saturday morn-ing, he may not be able to drive until 5:01 am on Monday, so

to anyone doing a long haul, that can be a pretty big concern.”

Arlington, Va. – On Thursday, December 22, leaders of the American Trucking

Associations expressed their frustration and disappointment that the Obama administra-

tion issued an unjustified final rule governing hours-of-service that will do nothing to im-

prove highway safety, but will very likely increase the risk of truck-involved crashes.

“Today’s announcement of a new rule on the hours-of-service is completely un-

surprising. What is surprising and new to us is that for the first time in the agency’s histo-

ry, FMCSA has chosen to eschew a stream of positive safety data and cave in to a vocal

anti-truck minority and issue a rule that will have no positive impact on safety,” ATA Pres-

ident and CEO Bill Graves said. “From the beginning of this process in October 2009, the

agency set itself on a course to fix a rule that’s not only not broken, but by all objective

accounts is working to improve highway safety. Unfortunately, along the way, FMCSA twisted data and, as part of this final

rule, is using unjustified causal estimates to justify unnecessary changes.”

“Even with an uptick in truck-involved fatalities in 2010, since the current rules went into effect in 2004, fatalities have

fallen 29.9%, even as overall miles traveled for trucks has risen by tens of billions of miles,” said ATA Chairman Dan England,

chairman of C.R. England, Salt Lake City. “No one can dispute these facts.

“By forcing through these changes FMCSA has created a situation that will ultimately please no one, with the likely ex-

ception of organized labor,” England said. “Both the trucking industry and consumers will suffer the impact of reduced produc-

tivity and higher costs. Also, groups that have historically been critical of the current hours of service rules won’t be happy

since they will have once again failed to obtain an unjustified reduction in allowable daily driving time. Further, it is entirely

possible that these changes may actually increase truck-involved crash-

es by forcing trucks to have more interaction with passenger vehicles

and increasing the risk to all drivers.”

“This rule will put more truck traffic onto the roadways during

morning rush hour, frustrate other motorists and increase the risk of

crashes,” Graves said. “By mandating drivers include two periods be-

tween 1 a.m. And 5 a.m. as part of a 'restart' period, FMCSA is assuring

that every day as America is commuting to work, thousands of truck

drivers will be joining them, creating additional and unnecessary con-

gestion and putting motorists and those professional drivers at greater

risk. The largest percentage of truck-involved crashes occur between 6

a.m. and noon, so this change not only effectively destroys the provision

of the current rule most cited by professional drivers as beneficial, but it

will put more trucks on the road during the statistically riskiest

time of the day.

“If there is a positive in this rule, it is the lengthy period of

time before it becomes effective,” Graves said of the 18-month

delay in the rule’s compliance date. “This will give ATA time to con-

sider legal options. And, by delaying implementation of this rule,

the agency is acknowledging there is no safety crisis on our high-

ways.”

The ATA is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state truck-ing associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation’s freight.

A Response from, and reprinted with the permission of the American Trucking Association

Obama Administration’s Final Hours-of-Service Rule Puts Safety in

the Backseat

Counterpoint Point

Stevedores and Terminal Operators

Port Bureau Partners on the Docks

Ceres Gulf

Ceres’ mission is to provide reliable and responsible stevedoring and terminal

services that are dependable and consistent with their customers’ requirements and

expectations. At each of Ceres’ container terminal handling operations, they offer cost-

effective stevedoring, roadability services for truckers, container repair, maintenance,

cleaning, monitoring, inspection, tripping, stuffing, stripping, weighing, and more.

Ceres’ Houston operations include the city dock terminals with 47 acres of

leased terminal facilities including 19,200 feet of berth space with access to on-terminal rail, container cranes, 24 reefer

plugs, and over 110,000 square feet of warehouse space. The Barbours Cut facili-

ty includes 230 acres and 6,000 feet of berth space from the Port of Houston Au-

thority with container cranes, reefer plugs, on-terminal rail access and 255,000

square feet of warehouse space.

Ceres has been an aggressive adopter of advanced technology since the

installation of their first computerized system in the 1970’s. Now, their EDI keeps customers informed of bookings, mani-

fests, carrier and freight releases, gate and vessel activity and more.

Chaparral Stevedoring Company

The Chaparral Stevedoring Company is an em-

ployee-owned stevedoring company founded in 1966 .

The company’s specialty is the discharge of steel and

the handling of wind turbines.

Gulf Stream Marine

Since 1990, Gulf Stream Marine has been building

relationships with customers vendors and employees to

protect customer cargo and ensure safe, flexible materials

handling. With stevedoring operations at Houston’s Man-

chester, Industrial, Woodhouse, and Greensport terminals

as well as in the ports of Freeport, Corpus Christi and

Brownsville, Gulf Stream is one of the largest privately

owned stevedore companies in the Gulf Region.

To ensure that Gulf Stream meets the needs of a

complete range of cargo from project cargo to trees, and containers to bulk, Gulf Stream is ori-

ented to handle loads on deep draft vessels, barges, rail trucks, and hazardous materials. Offer-

ing marking, banding, sorting and bundling services, Gulf Stream meets customer fabrication and

off-schedule job requirements with their on-site machine shops and company engineers, customer lift gear, high capacity

ground transport, and 24/7 labor availability.

Jacintoport International, LLC

Jacintoport International LLC ("Jacintoport") is a cargo handling and stevedor-

ing firm, headquartered in Houston, Texas, operating from a secure 62-acre terminal

with 690,000 square foot ultra-modern, automatic power ventilated, heavily insulated

warehouse. With 1,830 feet of lit berth space, dozens of forklifts, yard hustlers, chas-

sis, a crane fleet with 250 ton capacity, 100,000 square feet of dockside covered stor-

age and heavy duty tractors and trailers, Jacintoport’s facilities offer an alternative

Ceres Gulf 6021 Fairmont Parkway, Ste 240

Pasadena, TX 77506 Contact

Jeff Hakala Jhakala@ceresglobal.com

(713) 991-1500

Chaparral Stevedoring 1717 Turning Basin Dr. #200

Houston, TX 77029 Contact

Irby Banquer ibanquer@ayership.com

(713) 674-6700

Gulf Stream Marine 10000 Manchester Ave. Ste. C

Houston, TX 77012 Contact

Rick Ragusan rickr@gulfstreammarine.com

(713) 926-7611

Jacintoport International 16398 Jacintoport Blvd.

Houston, TX 77015 Contact

David Labbe david_lobbe@seaboardmarine.com

(713) 821-5415

labor source

whose flexi-

bility gener-

ates consid-

erable cost

savings. Jacintoport is proud of their no-hidden-costs, all-inclusive

rate structure and commitment to working on the customer’s

schedule.

Jacintoport boasts of having the only automated cargo

handling system in North America capable of handling import/

export cargos of bagged goods and unitized boxes. This Spiralvey-

or conveyor sys-

tem hands cargos with computer controlled conveyor loading facilitating

quick turnaround and reduced loading costs.

Operating within the Port of Houston Authority, Jacintoport workers

also handle stripping and stuffing of containers, cross-docking, USDA, FDA

and Russian certification, as well as trichinosis certification, fumigation, tem-

perature and humidity control, and specialized material handling. With a

management team committed to providing safe and secure facility for em-

ployees and visitors, the C-TPAT validated modern facility is guarded twenty-

four hours a day and is also covered with a digital camera surveillance sys-

tem that records all gate entries and departures. Jacintoport offers the latest

in computerized inventory control and electronic reporting to complement

full service terminal and stevedoring capabilities. As a result, Jacintoport is

proud to say that the customer is always in control.

Ports America

As the largest terminal operator and stevedore

in the United States moving over 12.7 million TEUs, 4.3

million vehicles, 1.6 million cruise ship passengers and

8.9 million tons of general cargo every year, Ports

America strives to provide clients with a competitive

advantage by combining the flexibility of global connec-

tions with the efficiency of local expertise. Operating

terminals in eighteen US ports and providing stevedore services in over forty, Ports Ameri-

ca’s mission is to provide creative and innovative infrastructure solutions for ports, cargo

carriers and cargo owners.

In Texas, Ports American operates terminals in Houston, Galveston, Beaumont,

Freeport, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Bayport. Ports America’s operations encompass

over 500,000 square feet of warehousing space, over a thousand acres of terminal space

and container freight stations for stuffing and stripping intermodal equipment.

In Houston, Ports America operates top loaders, empty handlers, cranes up to

300 tons, maintains storage facilities for ISO tanks, operates up to 23 wharf

cranes (9 post-panama) for the Port of Houston Authority, and maintains over

500 chassis slots at Bayport alone. The Galveston operation includes two ro-ro

terminals, and in Beaumont, Ports America is a contract stevedore for the U.S.

Army handling long term project cargo, vehicles and large oddly shaped cargos. With their commitment to providing a safe

environment for employees, contractors and visitors, and capabilities to handle containers, ro-ro, breakbulk, grain, other bulk

cargo and passengers, Ports America can move whatever comes across the docks.

Ports America P.O. Box 1969

La Porte, TX 77572-1969 Contact

Norman Lamb Norman.Lamb@portsamerica.com

(832) 615-7200

Loading Bagged Cargo at Jacintoport

Ports America Moving a Container

Richardson Stevedoring & Logistics

Richardson Stevedoring and Logistics was estab-

lished in 1969 and remains a family owned and operated

business where customers can expect responsible and relia-

ble service. Operating out of facilities at the Port of Hou-

ston, Galveston, Laredo, the inland rail Port of San Antonio,

and the Alabama State Docks in Mobile, Richardson specializ-

es in break-bulk and steel products using the company’s

heavy lift cranes, lift trucks, and a large fleet of flatbeds. At the Turning Basin, Rich-

ardson’s freight assignment at Dock 32 ensures that they’re ready to move high-and-

heavy cargo, and have several yards of dry storage available. They also operate as a

Foreign Trade Zone to handle cargo moving in and out of the United States.

Richardson Stevedoring & Logistics is part of the Richardson Group of Compa-

nies including Richway Transportation,

Robin International Transport, and R

Warehousing & Port Services, so in addi-

tion to getting cargo off the ship, Richard-

son is a direct discharge, Customs-bonded, DOT certified motor carrier serving the

Gulf Coast, Midwest, and East Coast.

Schroder Marine Services

Schröder Marine Services is a family owned and operated service company spe-

cializing in consulting, breakbulk stevedoring, and freight handling. The company prides

itself on creating custom tailored solutions and in offering quality “old-world” customer

service.

Jürgen Schröder, President, began as a seaman and climbed to executive roles in

numerous companies – building over 45 years of experience in the Port of Houston. He

opened Schröder Marine 25 years ago, and began the company's present operations in the Turning Basin Terminal.

Currently, they are the primary stevedore for

Chipolbrok, a regular global liner service outfitted with

640 ton capacity cranes for handling heavy machine,

power plant, mining, drilling, and other equipment.

This company’s success is founded on solid relationships and longstanding trust—earned by efficient, proactive team

members who are dedicated to seeing projects through to completion safely and cost-effectively. Schröder Marine is Quality

You Can Trust.

Shippers Stevedoring Company

With 24/7 operations,

the multinational and multilin-

gual team at Shippers Stevedoring

Company has a reputation for

flexibility and responsive service.

Shippers Stevedoring maintains a

fleet of vehicles including Ro/Ro

and terminal tractors, forklifts, and cranes with up to 300 ton capacity. Their

eight acre secured, paved and fully equipped container yard allows Shippers

Stevedoring Company to conduct maintenance and repairs on containers

while another 16 acre yard offers over 1,800 feet of rail siding, long and short

A Richardson Employee Prepares to Move Steel Pipe

The Richardson Companies 8500 Clinton Drive, Gate 1

Houston, TX 77029 Contact

Nolan Richardson Nolan@richardsoncompanies.com

(713) 673-1110

Nolan Williamson, Darrel Harrelson, and Bill Martinez supervise cargo movement in the SSC yard at the Turning Basin

Shippers Stevedoring Company 11811 East Freeway, Ste. 660

Houston, TX 77013 Contact

Nick Stratigakis Nick@sscusa.com

(713) 451-5777

Schröder Marine Services P.O. Box 5161

Houston, TX 77056 Contact

Jürgen Schröder jrschroder@schrodermarine.net

(713) 926-9355

Tying Down a Load on a Richardson Truck

A Marine Safety Information Bulletin from USCG Sector Houston-Galveston

Please note that Sector Houston-Galveston has changed the phone number for making urgent afterhours updates to

commercial vessel arrival information. Between the hours of 0600-1800, continue to call the vessel arrivals desk at (713) 671

-5100 x9008/9009. From 1800-0600, please contact the Sector Houston-Galveston Command Center at (713) 671-5113. You

can also continue to send your notice of arrivals and updates electronically at D08-PF-VTSHouston-Targeting@uscg.mil. The

Sector will continue to publish a cleared-to-enter list twice daily on Homeport at approximately 0930 and 1700. This MSIB

pertains to Sector Houston-Galveston Marine Inspection Zone and Captain of the Port Zone as defined in 33 CFR 3.40-28(a).

This includes the Houston Ship Channel (HSC) port area, the Port of Texas City, the Port of Galveston, and the Port of Free-

port, excluding Port Arthur and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

In an effort to improve efficiency in afterhours processing of Notice of Arrival updates sent to the Sector Houston-

Galveston Captain of the Port (COTP) zone as defined above, Sector Houston-Galveston requests that owners, operators, or

agents contact the Notice of Arrival Duty Officer at the above phone numbers when:

I. Submitting an NOA update between 1800 and 0600 and

II. The Arrival is scheduled in less than 24 hours and

III. The COTP zone has changed to Sector Houston-Galveston or

IV. The port of Arrival within the Sector Houston-Galveston COTP zone has changed from/

to a port within the HSC from/to the Port of Freeport.

The Sector is committed to working with industry on the safe and effective flow of

vessels in the COTP Zone. Please contact LCDR Aaron Demo, Targeting and Arrivals Coordi-

nator at (713) 671-5197 or via e-mail at Aaron.W.Demo@uscg.mil with any questions.

term cargo storage, and cargo consolidation.

SSC’s facilities also offer Container Freight Stations and handle bulk cargo operations. In La

Porte, Shippers operates Integrated Marine Services, LLC, a 45 acre intermodal equipment and depot

service center offering direct pickup/drop-off of empty containers to/from vessels, container and

chassis repair, storage, cleaning and monitoring. Using the wireless yard manager hand-held unit, a

digital web-based interface allowing customers access to equipment, activity and booking data, Ship-

pers is committed to ensuring that customer needs are met every time.

In 2005, Shippers Stevedoring Company recognized the need for a wind energy program and began investing in

equipment and facilities to handle the long and heavy loads of nacelles, towers and blades for wind power generators. Now,

hardly a week goes by without a load of wind cranes moving in, out, or through Shippers Turning Basin facility.

The International Longshoremen’s Association Founded in 1877 the International Longshoremen’s Association is the largest union of maritime workers in North America, representing 65,000 longshoremen on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, major US rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Cana-da. The South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District ILA, representing workers from Texas to North Carolina, provides labor to companies like Ceres Gulf, Richardson S&L, Chaparral, and Ports America. Hired by stevedores to move cargo, these check-ers, longshoremen, warehousemen, clerks, samplers, weighers, timekeepers, boatmen, engineers, hoisters and more repre-sent much of the boots-on-the-ground labor force moving cargo in the Port.

Regional Longshore, Warehouse, Clerks and Checker Locals of the ILA Local 20 170 Members Galveston Longshoremen

Local 24 777 Members Houston Longshoremen

Local 28 594 Members Pasadena Warehousemen

Local 30 125 Members Freeport Longshore and Warehousemen

Local 1351 341 Members Houston Clerks, Checkers, Timekeepers & Weighers

Local 1504 27 Members Galveston Warehousemen & Loaders

Local 1665 59 Members Galveston Clerks, Checkers, Samplers and Weighers

Local 1817 25 Members Freeport Timekeepers, Clerks & Checkers

Port of Houston CEO Alec

Dreyer to Step Down Excerpts from his offi-

cial statement:

I am pleased

to announce that I

have received a letter

of exoneration from

the Harris County Dis-

trict Attorney’s Office.

… The DA’s office

found that I complied

with the law, followed Port policies, and

did nothing out of the ordinary.

I personally requested this investi-

gation to clear my name … I feel it is vitally

important for the public to know the

truth. I came to the Port of Houston to

apply my business experience in public

service. We’ve achieved a great deal in my

time here, most notably by helping this

Port prepare for significant growth coming

as a result of the expansion of the Panama

Canal and the ongoing demographic shift

to the Texas triangle.

I’m proud of what we’ve accom-

plished. This experience, however, has

shown me that the political arena is not

where I want to be. … I’m happy to serve

until a replacement is found.

I’ve enjoyed my work at the Port

and I think it’s important that this organi-

zation continues to apply good business

practices to encourage

prosperity, to capitalize

on this growth, and to

create jobs for this re-

gion.— A. Dreyer, PHA

Thompson Assumes Presid-

ing Officer Position

The Houston Pilots have elected

Captain Robert Thompson as the Presid-

ing Officer for 2012, replacing Captain

Steve Conway who held the position

during 2011. Other

elected members of the Executive Com-

mittee include Captain Larry Wheatley

and Captain Steven Nelson

Take the Guesswork Out of Your Business

Nobody else can tell you where your

vessel is going—don’t just see the

present, see the future with Har-

borLights.

Where’s Your Information Coming From?

HarborLights vessel movement infor-

mation is updated in real-time by the

Houston Pilot dispatch center.

Greater Houston Port Bureau

W H E N I S Y O U R S H I P C O M I N G I N ?

Anybody can throw numbers at

you, but no one else can tell you what they

mean. When thousands of dollars an

hour hang in the balance, accuracy isn’t a

luxury - it’s a necessity.

Other organizations can offer you

AIS tracking systems that show you where

the vessel is or was as a dot on a screen. But

your vessels and your business are more

than that to you and they’re more than that

to us. With a dot on the screen, you still

have to guess when your vessel will arrive,

but with HarborLights, you’ll know.

Developed by Dave Morrell of

Mare Librum Consulting, HarborLights, is

the only program fed by Houston Pilots

dispatch information—the most timely

and accurate information on the Houston

Ship Channel.

Don’t bet your success on guess-

work, use HarborLights to take your busi-

ness to the next level. Contact us at the

Greater Houston Port Bureau for subscrip-

tion information.

WWW.TXGULF.ORG Greater Houston Port Bureau—111 East Loop North—Houston, TX—77029 713.678.4300

The integrated circuit chips (ICCs) on approximately 26,000

previously issued Transportation Worker Identification Credentials

(TWICs) were improperly encoded and may not work with TWIC card

readers. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will re-

place these cards at the card holder’s request at no cost. How to de-

termine if your card has the encoding problem, and instructions for

how you can obtain a replacement card, are described below.

Important: If your card has this issue it is still valid and pro-

vides evidence of your eligibility for unescorted access to secure are-

as. This issue only affects your card when using it with some readers.

If you determine your TWIC has this issue, and depending on how

you use your TWIC, you may decide not to replace it, or replace it

later at a more convenient time.

Problem Description:

Every TWIC contains a Federal Agency Smart Cre-

dential Number (FASC-N) on its ICC. The FASC-N uniquely

identifies each card. When your TWIC is read by a card

reader, the FASC-N is one of the pieces of information

the reader obtains from the card.

Due to a card production system error, the num-

ber of characters in the FASC-N on some TWICs was

shortened (truncated), causing readers to not recognize

the card as a valid TWIC. The system error causing the

FASC-N to be truncated was corrected on April 5, 2011.

TWICs issued after that date do not have truncated FASC

-Ns. TWICs issued before April 5, 2011 could potentially

have this issue and as a result, TWIC readers could have

problems reading these cards. TSA will issue a replacement TWIC at no cost to you if you have a card with a truncated FASC-N.

TSA is maintaining and posting a list of those affected TWICs. TSA recommends that you access this list to determine if your cre-

dential has a truncated FASC-N (see below for more information).

How to tell if your TWIC is affected by this issue:

The TWICs that have this problem can be identified by the 8-digit Agency Serial

Number (ASN) that is printed on the back of the TWIC. The ASN is on the bottom left side

of the back of the card (on the same line as the numbers ‘7099’ which appear on the

bottom right.) The ASN is shown in the red box in the illustration to the right.

If the ASN on your TWIC matches a number on the TSA list, then your card has a

truncated FASC-N and you may need to obtain a replacement depending on how you use

your card.

If you currently do not use your TWIC with a card reader, then you do not need to get a replacement right away—you will be

able to get one later.

If you currently need to use your TWIC with a card reader and you are experiencing problems, you should get a replacement

TWIC as soon as possible.

How to get a replacement TWIC:

If your TWIC is identified on the TSA list of cards with truncated FASC-Ns you can receive a no-cost replacement by call-

ing the TWIC Help Desk at 1-866-347-8942, Monday through Friday, 8AM to10PM Eastern. Please identify that your card has a

truncated FASC-N, and the Customer Service Representative will assist you with ordering a replacement. You must designate the

enrollment center where you will pick up your replacement TWIC.

Notice Regarding Improperly Encoded TWIC Cards Replacing your Defective Card at No Cost

TWIC Card Rule Changes

Released in late December, USCG Policy Letter 11-15 out-lines policy changes for mariners who do not require unescorted access to a secure area of a vessel. Referencing Section 809 of the Coast Guard Authorization act, the policy letter exempts mariners who serve on certain vessels that do not require a vessel security plan from the requirement to obtain a TWIC card to renew their Merchant Mariner Credentials.

While full implementation of this directive may require reg-ulatory changes, the USCG has devised a policy letter to allow for faster compliance. When conducting inspections, the Coast Guard will change its enforcement policies so that a mariner who does not hold a TWIC or holds an expired TWIC but current MMC may not be considered in violation of the applicable regulations.

Port Watch

The Christmas surge that wasn’t continued unabated through November as Texas ports

experienced their 4th consecutive monthly decline in terms of vessel arrivals. Ironically, as

things were heating up in malls across the country in terms of customer activity, there were

some unseasonably quiet days on the Houston Ship Channel. Yet again, the Port of Houston

registered its second softest month with 10% fewer vessel arrivals against October’s totals. In

terms of raw numbers, Houston is still enjoying a 4.5% rise over 2010, but 2011’s improvement

has been shrinking since mid-summer.

Outside of the region’s most active port, things were not as bleak and in a few instanc-

es quite heartening. With the exception of Freeport - which saw another 3% decrease in

monthly activity and 7% for the year - all of the other ports held their own – at worst. The port

of Texas City eked out a 2% gain which added to its 8% year-over-year increase. The port of

Corpus Christi bounced back nicely from its slowest month of the year with a 10% positive

swing for vessel arrivals. Finally, the comeback port of the month was, far and away, Galveston.

The former safe haven for the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte, jumped 42%. Unfortunately, this significant increase was not

enough to offset the Oleander City’s vessel arrival deficit against 2010’s shipping count, since the numbers are nearly 2% off

for the year.

Houston Ship Channel’s brownwater activity was down by another 559 tows but in terms of raw numbers this only

represented a one half of one percent monthly drop. The silver lining is that the local tow count remains 5% greater than

2010’s figures. In fact, preliminary estimates for the month of December are very positive as it appears that there is much

movement in the liquid inventory arena. This was certainly true with respect to Houston’s chemical tanker count which

surged 11%; further solidifying its year-to-year gains which currently stand at 14%. Perhaps all of those chemicals were being

transported to facilitate car production as the port tallied its highest monthly car carrier count for the year. The month-to-

month move from 8 car carriers to 11 in November resulted in the 2011 total exceeding 2010 for the first time this year.

If cars and chemicals were the only categories measured November would have been a month to crow about; how-

ever, that is where the rainbow faded as movements of every other port of Houston vessel type dropped. Some of these de-

creases were proverbial thuds. Tank vessels were down by 15% and posted the lowest daily average numbers for the year

(i.e., February’s raw number was lower but daily average was higher); LPG vessel movements, which had been very solid for

the last 4 months declined by 20%; General cargo vessel counts which had been experiencing double-digit increases over last

year lapsed by 13%; Bulk carrier arrivals which hit a nadir last month eclipsed even that poor showing with an additional 2%

drop; and Brownwater’s cousin – integrated tugs and barges - also had the misfortune of posting its lowest monthly numbers

for the year with a heart-wrenching 37% monthly fall. Finally, container vessel counts rounded out the monthly losses with a

3.5% monthly negative change.

On the whole, the numbers are down but there seems to be enough positive signs to warrant much of the confi-

dence the media has been hyping since the Christmas season kicked off. To some extent, there is adequate year-end port

activity to justify a positive outlook for 2012, but beyond the veneer of glad tidings there may be the reality of wishful think-

ing. Then again, isn’t that what consumption is all about – anticipation that things are getting better? So, 2012 awaits us as a

blank slate and - with the exception of Mayan calendar devotees – may be well worth the wait.—T. Marian, Buffalo Marine

Tom Marian—Buffalo Marine Service Confidence, Cars and Chemicals May Make for a Better 2012

Spotlight on Jeff Hakala

“We’re here to provide good customer service when they need it most.” During Katri-

na, Jeffrey Hakala certainly put that mantra into practice. Working in New Orleans at the

time, Jeffrey evacuated to Houston, but kept his mind on his customers who would need ste-

vedore services as soon as the port was reopened. Within two weeks of the hurricane, the

Port of New Orleans reopened and Jeffrey commuted to the battered region several times a

week. Leaving Houston at 0400 to arrive at 1000, Jeffrey worked to serve his customer’s

needs while the port was up and running before departing to return home before the city

curfew went into effect. “That’s the dedication our customers expect. That we move their

cargo quickly, cost-effectively, and most of all: reliably”

Jeffrey Hakala was born and raised in Negaunee, located on the upper peninsula of

Michigan, less than twenty miles from Lake Superior. In high school, he received an assign-

ment from a teacher to write about an occupation, and after thumbing through a career

guidebook in the school library, he wrote to the Merchant Marine Academy to learn more

about the Marine industry. When he mentioned going to the Academy to his guidance coun-

selor, the counselor suggested he enlist instead, but Jeffrey went through the long process of acceptance, admission, and

graduated in 1975.

After graduation, Jeffrey began working ashore at a number of East and Gulf Coast ports with Atlantic & Gulf Steve-

dores who would merge with I.T.O. Corporation in 1980 and eventually become Fairway Terminal Corporation in the West

Gulf. Deciding to move on, Jeff started his own company—Innovative Marine Concepts. With Innovative Marine Concepts,

Jeffrey developed a computer system to receive gate-move data about containers and chassis from marine terminals in or-

der to handle per diem and damage billing for steamship companies. Initially self-taught, Jeffrey is now a Microsoft Certi-

fied Professional, and while his initial programs are over 20 years old, he still works on little projects to help track repairs

and fill other niche requirements to provide better customer service and improved quality of operations. He’s also worked

as a developer with Tyco Submarine Systems to develop on-board crewing and payroll systems.

After working in Baltimore for a number of years, Jeffrey took a job with Ceres in New Orleans in July of 2004. In

August 2010, Jeffrey brought his talents to Houston where Ceres works with the local International Longshoreman’s Associ-

ation to unload and move cargo across the docks. While he handles a lot of containerized cargo, the interesting move-

ments are often the high-and-heavy cargos that make Houston the center of break-bulk in the Americas. “A good example?

A massive pressure vessel we moved; after getting it off the ship, we put it on a barge, and had to build a place to discharge

it, arrange for trucks to move it from the discharge center to the plant where it was installed, and along the way, we ar-

ranged for everything from permits to taking down telephone wires and cables so that it could pass.”

Jeffrey and his wife E.J. have two grown children, Jamie and Jeremy, and when he’s not busy working, he enjoys

riding his Harley Davidson Fatboy, skiing, and reading..

Ceres Global’s mission is to provide reliable, independent and responsible stevedoring and terminal services that are

dependable, high quality and consistent with their customers’ requirements and expectations. Ceres is dedicated to provid-

ing the highest quality, most reliable, cost-effective stevedoring, terminal operations, and ancillary services in the business of

transportation. The Ceres proactive approach to business, always making the customer a priority, has contributed to

longstanding, solid working relationships. Anticipating po-

tential problems, offering quick response and solutions and

staying one step ahead of the customers’ job requirements

are the standards in which Ceres operates daily and the key

to their success. With operations ranging from Hueneme,

CA to the gulf coast to the Northeast Atlantic coast, Ceres

has grown and expanded its scope of operations every year

for almost half a century.

Vice President, Texas Ports—Ceres Global

GREATER HOUSTON PORT BUREAU 111 East Loop North

Houston, TX 77029

713.678.4300 ph

713.678.4839 fax

www.txgulf.org

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Upcoming Events:

12 January—Commerce Club Luncheon Captain James Whitehead, USCG

9 February—Commerce Club Luncheon

8 March—Commerce Club Luncheon

12 April—Commerce Club Luncheon Gary Sera, TEEX

10 May—Commerce Club Luncheon

12 July—Commerce Club Luncheon

18 August—2012 Annual Maritime Dinner

13 September—Commerce Club Luncheon

11 October—Coffee Association Annual Luncheon

5 November—Captain’s Cup Golf Tournament