Port Houston completes maintenance dredging

The U.S. Gulf Coast port has completed maintenance dredging on the Bayport channel, allowing vessels with 45-foot drafts to call the Bayport Container Terminal.    Port Houston has completed maintenance dredging of the Bayport channel, the port said.
   The channel will be maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at a depth of 48.5 feet mean lower low water.
   As a result, the completed dredging opens the Bayport Container Terminal to vessels with up to 45-foot drafts.
   Meanwhile, the Barbours Cut Container Terminal recently established a new record for container lifts from one vessel, Port of Houston Authority Executive Director Roger Guenther said. A total of 4,198 moves were completed during the unloading and reloading of the 5,000-TEU COSCO Boston. The previous record was set in March at the Bayport Container Terminal with 4,153 container lifts on the Maersk Atlanta.
   The port has handled more than 16 million tons of cargo for the year, an increase of 12 percent over last year, according to recent figures. The increase in general cargo is credited largely to the 15 percent growth in container volumes, for a total throughput of 1.02 million TEUs in June, according to Guenther.
   In turn, the container increase was driven by loaded containers, which increased by 17 percent compared to this time last year, said Guenther.