Welcome Aboard (july 2008)

SAGA Forest Carriers makes its first call at the Port of Beaumont BELOW: Port trade development director Ernest Bezdek presents Capt. Peter Willyams with a plaque commemorating SAGA’s first call at the port.

Director’s note

Expansion, improvements move forward with contracts The Port of Beaumont’s $52 million Fisher capital expansion program is well under way.

ABOVE: The Tucano at the Port of Beaumont’s Main Street docks.

The Tucano, a vessel owned by Norway-based Saga Forest Carriers, anchored at the Port of Beaumont in April. The visit marked the company’s first call at the port. Longshoremen unloaded 2,097 pieces of pipe from the Tucano’s cargo hold, which were trucked to the port’s Orange County property for storage. The pipe will eventually be used to construct liquefied natural gas pipelines in Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Much of the pipe is being stored at the port’s Orange County facility, representing some of the first cargo being handled on the port’s recently developed property.

The new headquarters building for the 842nd Transportation Battalion of the U.S. military’s Surface Deployment Distribution Command (SDDC) is nearing completion and the keystone of our expansion—the new dock in Orange County—is now under construction. This new dock facility will be just a first step in opening up new acreage for the port to deep water vessel activity and is expected to be a catalyst for unprecedented port growth.

Port approves new grain elevator lease with Louis Dreyfus Corp.

We are also very proud to say that the expansion is being paid for with port operating revenues, supplemented by a couple of much-appreciated federal grants.

The port’s years-long relationship with international agricultural commodities giant Louis Dreyfus Corp. will continue for several more years.

We will keep you posted on this very exciting expansion program.

A second Saga pipe shipment of 1,764 pieces arrived aboard the Wave in May.

Port of Beaumont commissioners and Louis Dreyfus agreed to a new lease to operate the port’s grain elevator for the next 10 years. “We’re very excited about extending this relationship with Louis Dreyfus as they have been a great partner with the Port of Beaumont,” port director Chris Fisher said. The new lease, which began June 1 and runs through May 31, 2018, establishes Beaumont as one of the primary grain ports in the Gulf of Mexico. The new lease replaces the agreement between the port and Louis Dreyfus that was set to expire on May 31, 2009. The port’s grain elevator has a loading capacity of 3.5 million bushels and handles about 2 million tons of bulk grain each year. Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas ● 1225 Main Street ● Beaumont, Texas 77701 ● ● (409) 835-5367 ● (409) 835-0512 FAX ●

Online at www.portofbeaumont.com

David C. Fisher Executive director Port of Beaumont IN THIS ISSUE:

•

Broussard and Bezdek in Havana

•

Port funds literacy program for 11th year

• •

Music unwinds sailors Port grabs students’ attention from grade school to college

Port’s literacy partnership continues

Port, Learn to Read mark 11-year effort C om m i s s io ner s Ne ll Clark, Georgine Guillory and Lee Smith and port human resources manager Janet Floyd passed out personalized reading books to kindergarten, first– and second-grade students at Beaumont’s Dunbar Elementary School in May. The book giveaway marked the Port of Beaumont’s 11th year as a contributor to the Learn to Read program, put on by ABC Publishing of Beaumont. The program’s overall goals are to boost literacy, develop listening and concentration skills and build positive self-images among children across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana.

Commissioners Lee Smith and Georgine Guillory hand out booklets and pencils to West Brook High School students during Career Day 2008. Guillory, Smith, human resources manager Janet Floyd and public relations manager Mike Smith spoke with students at Beaumont’s West Brook and Central high schools in March about port careers.

BELOW LEFT: A teacher helps Nell Clark distribute books to Dunbar Elementary kindergarteners. RIGHT: Each book was personalized, with each student’s name used for the main character—a hit with many of the children.

Students from Mrs. Peggy White’s 4th Grade class at Regina-Howell Elementary School pose with their group project: “The Port of Beaumont, 1950present,” exploring the port’s impact on the region.

On top of the Hill Port director Chris Fisher, commissioners Nell Clark and Georgine Guillory and customer service director John Roby attended the American Association of Port Authorities conference last April in Washington, D.C., and visited Southeast Texas’ congressional delegation.

TOP: Clark and Guillory pose with U.S. Rep. Ted Poe. RIGHT: Fisher, Clark and Guillory pose with U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady.

Students, teachers and parents from Beaumont’s St. Anthony Cathedral School pose in front of the captain and crew members aboard the Padus River in March. The students took a tour of the port led by customer service director John Roby. Seafarers’ Center chaplain Bill Peterson presented greeting cards from the students to the ship’s crew.

Jammin’ on the Neches Sailors can spend up to a year at a time away from friends and family on the high seas. To make the journey a little easier on their crew, Capt. Peter Willyams and Chief Engineer Stephen Ralphs keep guitars, drums and other musical instruments in the recreation room aboard the Saga Tucano to provide fun and stress relief when daily work is done. During the ship’s call at the Port of Beaumont in April, Willyams invited port employees to join the crew for an evening of appetizers and music.

RIGHT: Crew members sing along to The Animals’ 1964 hit “The House of the Rising Sun.” BOTTOM LEFT: Capt. Peter Willyams (right) and Chief Officer Stephen Ralphs (left, with guitar) warm up chords to “Rollin’ on the River” while crew members thumb through a song book. BOTTOM RIGHT: Port public relations manager Mike Smith (right) poses with the Tucano’s crew.

Lamar term paper becomes long-term project When his professor announced a semester research project, Lamar University history and political science senior Curtis Smith instantly chose to explore the Port of Beaumont. A Beaumont native, Smith had always heard the port’s superlatives, but he wanted to know more of the port’s rise to prominence. “To me, it was a chance to explain this part of Beaumont to people who don’t know about it,” he said of his project. Smith’s paper details the birth of modern waterborne commerce beginning with Arthur Stillwell’s push for a deeper canal from Sabine Pass to Port Arthur in the 1890s and dredging that canal to Beaumont. Smith concludes that extending the channel transformed the region by aiding the population boom and giving boosters tangible proof of the area’s economic power. “Once we [went] deepwater, the growth happened really quick,” Smith said. “We had something to claim there. We could say ‘Look at all this trade we’re doing.’ Before that, we were just selling the area.” Smith got an ‘A’ in the class but his homework continues. He is looking for sources to gauge the port’s impact on everyday residents during the early days and any accounts of the port’s role during World War I. The research likely will take Smith well past graduation, maybe even graduate school. “Like with every answer, there’s a lot more questions,” he said. “It’s never quite finished.”

Headliners Board president Pete Shelton led a donation drive for a firefighters’ memorial pavilion and statue in the plaza named for him next to the Fire Museum of Texas. The pavilion and statue will be built next to the world’s largest fire hydrant, encouraging tourism in downtown Beaumont, according to NBC affiliate KBTV. Commissioner Georgine Guillory was featured in a Beaumont Enterprise article discussing volunteerism and people who have influenced her the most. Of the port, Guillory said, “I never knew Beaumont had such a gem. The port has grown three times in size since I’ve been here. It’s such an asset to the city.” The Beaumont Enterprise sought Commissioner Louis Broussard Jr.’s opinion on rising global rice prices. Broussard, president of Beaumont Rice Mills, said markets don’t yet show a shortage of American-milled rice. “By the time the 2008 crop is ready, we’ll have an ample supply for our customer base,” Broussard said.

The right side of the river

The dredge Kingfisher II scoops silt from the east bank of the Sabine-Neches Waterway to prepare for construction of a new wharf. The project is part of the port’s capital expansion program.

Workers lower pipe at the Orange County storage yard. The pipes are for area liquefied natural gas terminals and mark the port’s first major use of hundreds of acres on the east side of the waterway.

Preparation

Official visit U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Deputy Administrator Julie Nelson (fifth from left) and associate administrator for national security James Caponiti (fourth from left) visited the port in February. Nelson and Caponiti received a briefing from 842d Transportation Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Marshall Ramsey (wearing hard hat in photo) about the state of military operations at the Port of Beaumont. At left, Nelson and Caponiti pose with Ramsey and port and local MARAD personnel by the port’s new propeller, which MARAD donated for the port to display.

Port facts Port tonnage (CY 2007) 3,582,926 short tons Vessel calls (CY 2007) 248 (26 percent increase over 2006) Port ranking (2006)* 5th in nation in foreign tonnage 5th in nation in total tonnage (Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These rankings include activity along the upper 20 miles of the Sabine-Neches Waterway.)

Top export commodities (2007) 1. Bulk grain 2. Potash 3. Military cargo 4. Forest products 5. Steel billets 6. Misc. containerized cargo 7. Coke 8. Flour 9. Project cargo

Crews reposition LNG pipe being stored on the port’s Orange County storage yard while the Eduard Oldendorff receives a load of bulk grain from the port’s elevator across the waterway.

U.S. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Tom Geiger (right) shows Industrial Fire World president David White (left) his suggested boundaries for a safety zone around a fictional burning ship during a mock fire drill held in May. Firefighters from around the world, federal personnel and private industry representatives participated in the exercise.

New digs

Travel and trade

Crews are nearing completion on the port’s new military office building. At a cost of $5.4 million, the building will house the 842nd Transportation Battalion of the U.S. Surface Deployment Distribution Command, which is currently based at the port’s main gates. The building is scheduled to open in September.

Stephen F. Austin State University students in the school’s summer forestry program visited the port in June. The students spoke with trade development director Ernest Bezdek and operations director Kirby Dartez about forest product handling at the port and international economic trends in the industry, and toured the port’s transit sheds where wood pulp and veneer are being stored.

Top trading partners (2006-07) 1. Canada 2. Iraq 3. Brazil 4. Nigeria 5. Chile 6. Peru 7. Ethiopia 8. Mexico 9. Colombia 10. Russia

Top import commodities (2007) 1. Aggregate 2. Iron ore 3. Military cargo 4. Forest products 5. Pipe 6. Potash 7. Steel rail 8. Project cargo 9. Wind turbine equipment 10. Containerized cargo

Forging new ties

Bezdek, Broussard visit Cuba with Texas agricultural delegation Decades ago, ships carrying thousands of tons of rice bound for Cuba loaded at the Port of Beaumont at least once a week. Those were the days before political differences between the U.S. and the Caribbean island nation chilled relations and led to a trade embargo. But a port official who recently visited the island said that important contacts were established that could return such activity to Beaumont should the countries’ relations thaw. Port trade development director Ernest Bezdek and port commissioner Louis Broussard, Jr.—who is president of Beaumont Rice Mills—traveled with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and 22 other delegates on the first visit to Cuba by an elected state official in more than 45 years. In a released statement, Staples said the delegation was warmly received and the visit a success. “There is a huge potential for exporting Texas products to Cuba, and the mission has set the table for a long-term business relationship with our neighbors in the Caribbean,” Staples said. U.S. President John F. Kennedy enforced a trade embargo with Cuba in 1961, about two years after a revolutionary army led by Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and initiated what has become almost five decades of Communist rule. Political observers are eyeing recent leadership shifts in Cuba as a sign of more far-reaching changes. Trade rela-

CUBA AT A GLANCE Official name: Republic of Cuba Capital: Havana Population: 11.4 million (2008 est.) Per capita GDP: $4,500 (2007)

tions between the U.S. and the island nation of about 11.4 million have shown hints of warming in recent years. According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas has exported more than $100 million in agricultural products to Cuba since the U.S. government allowed exports to resume in 2000. Among the stops during their visit, Bezdek, Broussard and the delegation visited a large Cuban ranching operation, which included cattle, horses and a variety of crops the Cuban government produces. They also toured several farmers’ markets and a Cuban grocery store. Bezdek and Broussard also met with several buyers affiliated with Alimport, the country’s state-run importer. “The end result of the trip was a strengthening of ties with Alimport for a better future business relationship,” Bezdek said. “When [the embargo] is totally lifted, we’ll be in a better position to totally deal with them.” The port has sent representatives to Cuba during the past several years to maintain contacts. Both Bezdek and Broussard belong to the Texas-Cuba Trade Alliance, a group of farmers, ranchers and other trade interests formed to inform Texans of U.S.-Cuba trade policies, port director Chris Fisher said. “The Port of Beaumont continues working to put ourselves in position to take advantage of trade opportunities with Cuba,” Fisher said. “That’s why we think the delegation led by Commissioner Staples was very important.”

ABOVE: Ernest Bezdek stands with Alimport chartering department manager Leonardo Jacas Rodriguez (center) and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. BELOW: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples surveys a package during a visit to a Cuban supermarket. (Photo: TDA)

Major ports: Cienfuegos Havana Matanzas Key industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery and pharmaceuticals Source: CIA World Factbook

Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas MISSION STATEMENT: The Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas is responsible to the taxpayers of its district for the improvement of navigation and the development of maritime shipping and waterborne related commerce to and from its wharves; and for maintenance, development, extension and improvement of wharf and dock facilities of the Port of Beaumont to promote economic growth in our district, the State of Texas and in the interest of national defense.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS C.A. “Pete” Shelton, president H.M. “Henry” Nix, Jr., vice president Georgine Guillory, secretary-treasurer Floy Nell Clark Louis Broussard, Jr. Lee E. Smith

STAFF David C. Fisher, port director Bill Carpenter, deputy director Ernest L. Bezdek, trade development director John Roby, customer service director Kirby Dartez, operations director Al Matulich, dock superintendent Brenda Whitworth, finance director Janet Floyd, human resources manager Norman Reynolds, port authority police chief Mike D. Smith, public relations manager

Comments, questions and suggestions about this publication should be directed to Mike D. Smith, at (409) 835-5367 or [email protected].

Texas has exported more than $100 million in agricultural products to Cuba since exports resumed in 2000. Source: Texas Department of Agriculture