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2 Port of Houston Magazine

PORT OF HOUSTONVolume 28

Port StaffRICHARD P. LEACH, Executive DirectorJAMES D. PUGH, Managing DirectorJ.R. CURTIS, Director of Port Operations

JAMES F. REARDON, Deputy Director, Port OperationsTED WALTERS, Manager, Marine DepartmentW.D. DUNNAHOE, Manager, Turning Basin TerminalsJOHN HORAN, Manager, Barbours Cut TerminalW.E. GREER, Manager, Houston Public Grain

ElevatorLESLIE J. SANDERFER, Manager, Bulk Materials

Handling Plantm. MONROE BEAN, Manager, Storage WarehousesA.J.M. VAN DE WEN, Manager, Maintenance

DepartmentCLAUDE BARTH, Manager, Security Department

ARMANDO S. WATERLAND, Director of TradeDevelopment

R.B. AKKERMAN, General Sales ManagerLEON UTTERBACK, Eastern Sales ManagerJACK WOJEWNIK, Asst. Eastern Sales ManagerDAVID W. SIMPSON, Western Sales ManagerMISAEL BRETON, Latin American Sales ManagerEDWARD t. HORN, Communications Manager

NORMAN E. HUENI, Director of EngineeringTOM KORNEGAY, Chief Engineer

F. WILLIAM COLBURN, Director of AdministrationLINDA REESE, ControllerALTON B. LANDRY, Manager, Personnel DepartmentBETTY GARRETT, Manager, Purchasing Department

ALGEN1TA SCOTT DAVIS, CounselLOUIS F. BROWN, JR., Manager, Safety and Insurance

DepartmentJOE SCROGGINS, JR., Director of PlanningMICHAEL SCORCIO, Director of Community RelationsJOE F. FLACK, County Auditor

Executive Offices1519 Capitol Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002

P.O. Box 2562, Houston, Texas 77252Telephone: (713) 226-2100

TWX: 910-881-5787

Terminal OfficesTurning Basin: (713) 670-2400Barbours Cut: (713) 470-1800

Bulk Plant Office3100 Penn City Road, Houston, Texas 77015

Telephone: (713)453-3531

Field Office60 East 42nd Street, New York 10165

Telephone: (212) 867-2780

~ Official PublicationPort of Houston

Authority

Magazine Staff

EDWARD L. HORN, EditorPAT STRE1LEIN KIRK, Staff WriterRAY CARRINGTON, Staff PhotographerSHEILA PHILLIPS, Advertising ManagerTINA TOBIAS, Typographer

April 1984

Number 4 April 1984

F. Bracewell ~ J. H. Garrett H.J. MiddletonChairman Commissioner Commissioner

Port Commissioners

W. D. Haden, II M.D. PerryCommissioner Commissioner

In This Issue

Down Under--ACT/PACE initiates a direct container ser- Avice between Houston and New Zealand and Australia. ¢4

Taiwan Tour--Representatives of Taiwanese ports and osteamship lines visit Houston in a trade promotion effort. 0

Passage to Brazil--An Ivaran Lines ship adds something 1new to the Port of Houston: a passenger service. 1 Z,

Lots of Bread--An independent grain trader reveals somesecrets and tells why public elevators are still essential. 16

World Trade Dinner--The retiring Norwegian consulgeneral is honored at a banquet featuring a U.S. ambassador. ~,U

P.H.A. Progress--A late report on construction projectsand business practices of the Port of Houston Authority. ~

Port Tidings--A page of news and notes about people andcompanies in and around the Port of Houston. Z,O

On The Cover

The A CT 5 discharges chassis at Barbours Cut as ACT/PACE initiates service here.

THE PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE (ISSN 0032-4825) is published monthly by the Port Houston Authority and is distributed free to maritime, industrial and transportation interests in theUnited States and foreign countries. This publication is not copyrighted and permission is given for thereproduction or use of any original material, provided credit is given to the Port of Houston. Second classpostage paid at Houston, Tx. and at additional mailing offices. Send address change to PORT OFHOUSTON MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 2562, Houston, Texas 77252.

ACT/PACE begins Down-UndeAssociated Container Transporta-

tion/PACE Line made its first call atthe Port of Houston on the way toAustralia/New Zealand on March 4,1984. Previously, they had served theeast coast of the United States andCanada, but last year added Gulf ser-vice.

ACT is a combination of threehistoric steamship lines: Blue Star Line,Ellerman Lines, and Cunard-Port Line,which have been individually tradingwith far-off Australia and NewZealand for more than 140 years.PACE is a combination of ACT andthe Australian National Line, one ofthe newest and largest flag lines in theworld.

The experience of the ACT groupand the new ANL is an ideal combina-tion to cater to the needs of the twocountries, Australia and New Zealand,which is one of the longest tradingroutes in the world.

After loading at Barbours CutTerminal, the 1,300-TEU ship of thePACE Line fleet, sailed through thePanama Canal directly to Auckland,New Zealand. Arriving 19 days later,this affords Houston shippers thefastest service from the United Statesto New Zealand and is ideal for thoseexporters supplying the plastic marketsin New Zealand with Texas-producedresins. New Zealand customers importabout 50,000 tons per year of theseresins and have expressed theirpleasure in being able to depend onthe speed and experience of

Chassis for moving a multitude of ACT/PACEcontainers were unloaded as the first order ofbusiness on the first call of the new service.

serviceACT/PACE Lines.

Michael B. Northen, president ofACT/PACE Lines, said: "I am pleasedthat at a time when other lines arerestricting schedules and reducing shipsin their fleet, PACE is expanding itsservice to serve Houston directly. Theimportance of the Port of Houstonbecame clear to us when we startedour Gulf service and we feel that ourexperience in the trade will help ussucceed where others have failed andwithdrawn."

The PACE service has the stabili-ty of conference membership andmaintains a regular fortnightlyschedule. The ships assigned to theU.S. Gulf trade are 729 feet long andhave a beam of 95 feet and speeds inexcess of 20 knots. The ships are alsounusual in that they provide 168,000cubic feet to cater to machinery andother non-containerizable cargoes soimportant for exporters through thePort of Houston.

The ships are manned by British andAustralian crews and are managedfrom the ACT(USA) office in theWorld Trade Center, New York.

Joseph E. Zehner Jr., who has abroad background in Gulf shippingand the Australia/New Zealand trade,is U.S. Gulf regional manager for theline. Norton, Lilly & Co., Inc., areU.S. Gulf agents in Houston.

Australia, which has an almostinsatiable appetite for American pro-ducts, buys thousands of tons ofchemicals, oil drilling machinery, hightechnology goods, and foodstuffs from

The maiden voyage of the M/VACT 5 to the Port of Houston was quite an occasion since it markedthe inauguration of ACT/PACE service. Shown, from left, at the presentation of the traditional plaque,are John Horan, manager of Barbours Cut Terminal for the Port of Houston Authority; J. PatrickCooper, Gulf regional sales manager for Norton, Lilly & Co., Inc.; James D. Pugh, managing director ofthe Port Authority; Capt. C.P. Leighton; Joseph E. Zehner Jr., owner’s representative in the Gulf;Richard B. Akkerman, general sales manager for the Port Authority; and Arthur J. Bredehofl andJoseph de Pedro, Gulf general manager and West Gulf general traffic manager, respectively, for Nor-ton, Lilly.

the U.S. Gulf area. After the first stopin Auckland, the PACE ships movedirectly across the Tasman Sea toMelbourne, berthing three days later,then call at Sydney and Brisbanebefore proceeding back to NewZealand for direct calls at PortChalmers and Wellington.

Being in the forefront of eachtechnological development and serviceinnovation in shipping is the hallmarkof ACT/PACE and the partner lines.The company goal however has beento offer the total options of the PACEservice while helping keep eachcustomer competitive in themarketplace.

The company philosophy: We move

cargo but we serve people--a standardof business that has ensured the suc-cess of the carrier and its customersfor nearly a century and a half.

James D. Pugh, managing direc-tor of the Port of Houston Authority,welcomed the first ship of the service,the ACT 5, presenting a maidenvoyage plaque to the master, who wasa most congenial host at a luncheonmarking the occasion.

"We are very pleased that ACT-PACE decided to begin calling at thePort of Houston," said Pugh. "Thisservice is much-needed and we lookforward to a long and mutuallybeneficial association." []

April 1984 5

Louisiana Gulf Shipyards

($04)$2S.3425LOUIsfANA GULF- SHIPYARDS INC320 RACE STREETNEW ORLEANs LA 70130 USA(504} 525 3425, TELEX 6821204

Sail Puerto Ricoand

Econocaribe Consolidators, Inc.are very pleased to announce the "joining of forces" to offer the Houston Gatewayshipping community the very best service to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

On March 1, 1984, SAIL PUERTO RICO acquired ECONOCARIBE’s warehouse, locatedat 6821 Fulton, Houston, Texas (713) 699-3870.

SAIL will now be handling both their own as well as ECONOCARIBE’s Puerto Ricobusiness utilizing the econofreight distribution center in Puerto Rico. Weekly serviceto Puerto Rico and San Juan, provided by Sail, will continue uninterrupted.

SAIL PUERTO RICO has also been appointed ECONOCARIBE’s sales and receivingagent for all cargoes moving through Houston, therefore, there will be no interrup-tion of ECONOCARIBE’s weekly service to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama,Dominican Republic, Haiti, Aruba, Curacao, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Barbados, Bermuda,Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Both ECONOCARIBE CONSOLIDATORS and SAIL PUERTO RICO wish to sincerely thankyou for your past support and trust that you will recognize our move as a strengthen-ing of efforts for your benefit.

For further information about rates, sailing schedules, etc., please contact:

IN HOUSTONRon Wolff or

Bill Minor(713) 869-8789

699-3870

IN DALLASRichard Sapp orHeather Merritt(817) 481-6539

(Metro)April 1984 7

Visit of port, shipping officials included port inspection tour aboard SAM HOUSTON

Taiwanese trade mission accordedred-carpet treatment in Houston

The red carpet was rolled out recent-ly for a delegation of Taiwanese of-ficials in Houston to promote a newtransshipment center formed by thePorts of Kaohsiung and Taichung onthe western coast of their homeland.

Port of Houston Authority officialsand other maritime representatives, onMarch 5, accompanied the Taiwanesedelegation on an inspection tour of theTurning Basin Terminals.

THE DAY ended with a reception,hosted by Solar Shipping Agency, Inc.,and the Yang Ming Line. The visitorswere the guests of honor at a dinnersponsored by the Port Authority onthe next evening.

The harbors of Kaohsiung andTaichung, located in densely populatedindustrial centers, are two of fiveTaiwanese ports that are being expand-ed and modernized.

THESE TWO HARBORS, located110 nautical miles apart, form anatural link and, therefore, have beendesignated as the TransshipmentCenter. The Port of Kaohsiung hasbeen developed to accommodateprimarily container and generalcargoes, while the Port of Taichung isintended to handle mostly bulk cargo.Both ports, however, will handle allthree types of cargoes.

Operations and management pro-cedures have been streamlined, with anumber of measures adopted and rulesand regulations dealing with themaritime industry revised in an effortto stimulate trade.

FOR EXAMPLE, customs pro-cedures have been simplified, especiallyfor transshipped cargoes to be re-shipped intact. These cargoes do not

require inspection and can be in andout of Customs in about 10 minutes.Also, fees for port services have beenlowered, while the quality and extentof services have been improved.

Texas was the second stop on thedelegation’s five-state mission; the visitbegan in California, where the groupdiscussed new Taiwanese facilities withmaritime and business leaders in SanFrancisco, Oakland, Long Beach andLos Angeles. The delegation also willvisit Charleston, South Carolina, NewYork City, and Seattle, Washingtonbefore returning home.

YANG MING LINE, a full-servicecarrier home-based in Keelung, offersservice between Houston and thetransshipment center every nine days,according to the line’s agent, SolarShipping Agency, Inc. []

8 Port of Houston Magazine

Port Commissioner Howard J. Middleton presented a Texas flag to C.Y. Yuan, director of the Kaoh-siung Harbor Bureau.

T.H. Chert, vice president of Yang Ming Line;David Liu, regional manager of Solar ShippingAgency, Inc.; James Liu, president of Solar International Shipping Agency; J.R. Curtis, director ofport operations, Port of Houston Authority; Com-missioner Middleton; Capt. L.H. Ho, vice presi-dent, operations, for Solar International Shipping.

Capt. Ho and James F. Reardon, deputy direc-tor of port operations, Port of Houston Authority.

Norman E. Hueni, director of engineering forthe Port of Houston Authority; Captain Ho; andJames D. Pugh, managing director for the Port ofHouston Authority.

Tony Tung, director of the Department ofNavigation and Aviation, Ministry of Communica-tion; Armando Waterland, director of tradedevelopment, Port of Houston Authority.

David Liu; Port Commissioner John H. Garrett and Lin Shen, director ofTaichung Harbor Bureau

John Hsu, deputy junior vice president of Evergreen Line; Yuan; andPort Commissioner Marcella D. Perry.

John Horan, manager of Barbours Cut Ter-minal, explains the operation and expansion ofthe terminal.

Richard P. Leach, executive director, Port ofHouston Authority greets the delegation.

Yuan, Commissioner Perry, Commissioner Gar-rett and Shen.

April l~;84 9

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10 Port of Houston Magazine

’four Cargo’sFavorite Travel Mode

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April 1984 11

When the M/S SANTA FE arrived in the Turning Basin to take on cargoand passengers, she was on her maiden voyage to the Port of Houston.Shown at the traditional plaque presentation, from left, are Richard B. Ak-kerman, general sales manager of the Port of Houston Authority; Moham-med Kidwai, sales manager for United States Navigation, U.S. general

agent for Ivaran Lines; Jose Bocatto, U.S. Gulf sales manager for RiiseShipping, Inc., Gulf agents for Ivaran; J.R. Curtis, director of port opera-tions for the Port Authority; Capt. Bendt Ternoe, master; ChristinaMorales; Siraj S. Popatia, office manager for Riise; and Capt. Lars Riise,president of Riise.

Ivaran Lines offering passenger,cargo service to South America

Twelve passengers boarded anIvaran Lines cargo ship in the Port ofHouston recently for a freightervoyage to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguayand the Caribbean.

The event was unusual for the Portof Houston, which has had no regularpassenger service. However, with theaddition of the M/V SANTA FE tothe cargo liner rotation list, thereshould be passengers boarding aboutevery nine weeks.

THE SANTA FE is the only one ofthe three ships assigned to the route,with sailings every three weeks, to of-fer passenger service. She is a well-maintained semi-container vessel withaccommodations for 12 passengers infour double and four single cabins,each equipped with a lavatory andshower.

The ship has a large dining salon, a

12

bar, and a swimming pool. Built in1978, the SANTA FE is of 14,770DWT and has a container capacity of447 TEU. She operates at a speed of16.5 knots and is equipped with twodeep tanks of 11,410 cubic feet eachfor liquid cargoes.

Ivaran, Riise Shipping, the line’sGulf agent; and U.S. Navigation, U.S.general agent, took advantage of thepresence of the luxurious ship to hosta buffet reception to acquaintHouston-area shippers with the cargoservice.

LEAVING HOUSTON, the servicecalls at Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Santos,and Paranagua, Brazil; Montevideo,Uruguay; and Buenos Aires, Argen-tina, and returns to the Gulf via San-tos, Brazil; Bridgetown, Barbados; andSanto Domingo.

The voyage is about 50 days for

passengers.The other two ships assigned to the

service are the EDITA and the SAN-TA CRUZ. The EDITA was built in1972 and is of 12,281 DWT. She has abale capacity of 592 cubic feet and acontainer capacity of 408 TEU. TheSANTA CRUZ, built in 1969, is of12,800 MTDW, has reefer space of37.5 cubic feet, and a container capaci-ty of 220 TEU.

IVARAN LINES is a member ofthe Inter-American Freight Conference,which regulates all cargo out of theUnited States destined to Brazil,Uruguay and Argentina. The line hasbeen providing service from the Gulfsince August of 1981. Each of theships handles break-bulk as well ascontainer cargo.

Ivaran was founded in 1920 and isbased in Oslo, Norway. []

Port of Houston Magazine

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April 198413

caution

Since announcing our RATES (Rapid Access Tariff ExpeditingService), we seem to hear of a new tariff service every otherweek. As so often happens with a significant new product,others "jump on the bandwagoni’ often without a productthat’s really viable.

The point is, launching a really useful computerizedtariff watching service like RATES is no small undertaking Itrequires a staggering amount of planning, detail--yes, andfinancial resources.

The Journal of Commerce knows this well. As the lead-ing source of import/export information, we have over 150years of experience doing it. Our computerized PIERS serviceis a typical example.

But our new RATES tariff watching service is even morecomplex. It~ designed to store the full text of ocean tariffsfiled with the Federal Maritime Commission. Initial program-ming incorporates thousands of pages of tariff filings. Exporttariffs on many trade routes are already on file. Import tariffswill follow later this yea[

Which is why before signing with any tariff reportingservice, you should get answers to the following questions:

"Can we refer to the full text of each tariff?"Often shippers, shiplines and others need to refer to the fulltext of a tariff for interpretation. RATES stores every tariffpage electronically in its entirety--not merely an abbrevi-ated version of transcribed rates.

You can scan any of the data stored in the ocean ratedatabase as text. By the same token, if you don’t need theentire tariff, RATES can give you rate and rule summaries,making rate quotations a snap.

"Are changes updated daily?"Rate changes run into the hundreds every day As changesare filed, they are recorded by our staff at the FMC, verifiedby our staff of professional tariff analysts, and then pro-grammed into the RATES database before the nextbusiness day

As a result, updated data is accessible to RATES subscrib-ers daily right on their own terminals.

"How reliable is the service?"Shippers, shiplines, freight forwarders, NVOs and others thatuse tariff information usually need it for the conduct of theirbusiness, and they need it rapidly RATES employs Tandem IIcomputers~a system with 100% redundancy that doesnot fail.

Our Tandem II computers also have virtually limitlessexpandability which is equally important for a system thatinvolves continual tariff changes.

Eric Ridder,PubLisher, The Journalof Commerce.

"Does the service also offer updated sailing schedules?’"With RATES you not only can compare updated rate data,but updated ship availabilities. Information on sailingsand carrier services is based on the extensive Journal ofCommerce shipcards, the industry standard for this data.This combination of tariff and sailing data truly brings inter-national transportation decision making into theinformation age.

Before making any decision on a tariff watching system,take time to investigate the advantages of The Journal ofCommerce RATES. You won’t be sorry

For a detailed brochure on RATES, contact us at 110 WallStreet, New York, NY 10005 (212) 208-0224.

The Journal of Commerce

A Knight-Ridder business service.

I

2190 North Loop West ̄ Suite 401 ¯ Telephone: (713) 681-6885 ̄ Telex: 76-2534P.C). Bnv 4Aa * Llnmia4F~n T~v~e 77fllm * r.Lm_o..r ..........

Interstate recently loaded 1.2 million bushels into this ship at the Houston Public Elevator

Independent grain firm’s customerssay bigger not necessarily better

By PAT STREILEIN-KIRK Traders Mike Woodfin, Guy Brady secretary and kind of grew into it."

Digger is not necessarily better inthe grain industry. At least that’s whatTruitt Kennedy’s customers tell himfrom time to time. They prefer thedirect, individual service that small, in-dependent grain companies provide.That’s why Kennedy, head of In-terstate Grain Corporation, has noplans of expanding the scope of hisoperation beyond the Midwest andTexas.

Interstate, a creation Kennedy hasnurtured since its beginning in 1978, isamong the 35-40 small, stout indepen-dent grain companies that buy and sellabout 20 percent of the nation’s grain.The rest of the grain is handled bylarge cooperatives owned and operatedby groups of producers.

When dealing with cooperatives,Kennedy’s customers sometimes feelthey get lost in the shuffle, often hav-ing to deal with several people beforeaccomplishing the business at hand,noted Kennedy. There’s little chanceof that happening at Interstate.

and Deborah Elizondo specialize inspecific types of grain trading andcarry their deals from start to finish,he said.

Woodfin and Brady, who havebeen working with Kennedy since theygraduated from college 12 years ago,buy and sell. Woodfin trades primarilywheat, and Brady handles feed grains.

Elizondo is a buyer of wheat andmilo. Formerly Kennedy’s secretary,she is following a path few womenhave trod. Noting that there may bel0 to 12 women grain traders in theentire state, Kennedy jokingly said,"It’s one of the last bastions of malechauvinism." Elizondo admitted thatthere aren’t many women dealing ingrain, but contended that it’s not achauvinistic industry. "Men welcomewomen into the business," she said, ad-ding, "I’ve never had a problem!"

Elizondo, who considers Kennedy amaster of the industry and an excellentteacher, continued, "I got familiar withthe business as Mr. Kennedy’s

Noting that she has been buying forabout a year and a half now, Elizondoadded, "The grain business is unpredic-table, and it’s interesting to me becauseI’m getting an inside view of whatother countries’ needs are."

Interstate’s primary customers arein South and Central America, Africaand the Far East, although some grainis shipped to Europe. The majority ofInterstate’s grain originates inNebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texasand Colorado.

Exporting 110 to 120 millionbushels annually, Interstate is aremarkable success for a company onlyfive years old. Last year, grain salestotalled $400 million.

The secret of its success lies with itsleader. Kennedy, who has been in thebusiness since 1939, said trading graindepends on personal contacts and thetrader’s reputation.

There are 700-800 grain elevatorsin the states where Interstate buys

16 Port of Houston Magazine