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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Failed Port Merger Won't Stall Growth

HOUSTON-Galveston and Houston port officials say voters' rejection of a merger won't stymie growth. Houston will still seek ways to corner all Gulf of Mexico container-shipping trade and Galveston will look for avenues to beef up business.

By Jennifer Brenner Andrade | Updated on December 19, 2001

HOUSTON-Port of Houston Authority commissioner James Edmonds tells GlobeSt.com that the Houston port will meet market demands of the container shipping industry despite the failed merger with the Port of Galveston. Tuesday, 57% of Galveston’s voters rejected a plan for a regional port despite city support on both sides of the fence.

“It would have been a nice fit,” Edmonds says. But, he quickly adds, the Port of Houston’s goal is still reachable: cornering all container-shipping locally. The Houston port currently controls 63% of the market share for container shipping in the Gulf of Mexico. Edmonds says there are no plans afoot to lob a similar play with other ports such as Texas City, Freeport or New Orleans.

Edmonds says the 720-acre Bayport container terminal and a 120-acre industrial development area in southeast Harris County are proof of the Houston port’s ability to handle future growth. By developing Bayport, the port can keep pace with the anticipated and expanding growth patterns in the container industry. A “no-build scenario” is not an option if Houston is to maintain its current customer base. Expansion also could spread to Pelican Island to support growth.

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