Port of Galveston

Port of Galveston
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Location
Country	United States
Location	Galveston, Texas
Details
Opened	1825
Operated by	Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees
Owned by	City of Galveston
Type of harbor	Natural
Piers	39
Employees	88
Executive Director	Michael J. Mierzwa
Statistics
Vessel arrivals	944 (2009)
Annual cargo tonnage	9,791,907 short tons (8,883,069 t) (2009)
Annual container volume	83,643 (2009)
Value of cargo	$680.359 million (2005) $2,697
Passenger traffic	788,931 (2009)
Annual revenue	$23.25 million (2010)
Net income	$7.34 million (2010)
Minimum depth	45 feet (14 m)
Narrowest width	1,200 feet (370 m)
Website http://www.portofgalveston.com

The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans.

History

During the late 19th century, up until the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the port was the busiest on the Gulf Coast and considered to be second busiest in the country, next to the port of New York City. The port exported most of the nation's cotton, along with large amounts of cattle, rice and other commodities. Galveston's wealth and great esteem was due in large part to the port's activity. The port was devastated by the 1900 Storm, and though it has since recovered, its status was quickly overtaken by the Port of Houston and other deep-water ports that were able to expand without restrictions due to geographic features.

Today

Cranes at the Port of Galveston container terminal

Located on the upper Texas coast on the eastern end of Galveston Island, it is 9.3 miles (15.0 km) from the open Gulf or approximately 30 minutes sailing time. The port is municipally owned by the City of Galveston and is managed by the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves, as designated by the City Charter.

The port is equipped to handle all types of cargo including: containers, dry and liquid bulk, breakbulk, RO/RO, refrigerated and project cargoes. The Galveston Railroad, a terminal switching railroad, facilitates movement of cargo by rail. In addition, the port is the year-round homeport to two Carnival Cruise Line vessels (Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph). They also had one Royal Caribbean vessel (Mariner of the Seas) sail from port on Winter months. Starting on Fall 2013, Navigator of the Seas will be based year-round out of Galveston. The Navigator will be the largest ship to ever be homeported in Galveston, like the Mariner, while the Magic is the largest ship homeported in Galveston year round.

Disney Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises also now sail from the port to locations in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Disney operates Disney Magic from the port during the fall and winter seasons, and is later to be replaced by Disney Wonder. Princess Cruises sailed the 951-foot Crown Princess to the western Caribbean from January to April 2013. Later in 2014, Princess will sail from the Houston Bayport Terminal, via the Caribbean Princess.

The Port of Galveston consists of the Galveston Ship Channel, the south side of Pelican Island, the north side of Galveston Island and the entrance to Galveston Bay. The Galveston Channel has an authorized minimum depth of 45 feet (14 m) and is 1,200 feet (370 m) wide at its narrowest point.

See also

• Port of Houston
• Port of Texas City
• Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. ICC

References

Port of Galveston- Galveston Wharves boxcar with CRANDIC markings on the CRANDIC at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

External links

• Port of Galveston Official Website