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Access Mexico Conference 2

Houston’s Consular Corps 8

Flour Mill Begins Production

ON THE COVER

The expansion of NAFTA to include Chileand other South American countries was atopic of discussion at a recent Houston confer-ence. See Page 2.

COMMISSIONERS

NFD HOLMESChairman

ROBERT GILLETTECommissioner

LEROY BRUNERCommissioner

JOHN~A. WEBB JR,,M.D.Commissioner

CHASE UNTERMEYERCommissioner

VIDAL MARTINEZCommissioner

JAMES T, EDMONDSCommissioner

uld be

T ile United States must movequickly toward a western hemi-sphere free trade agreement inorder to maintain this nation s

competitiveness in the world market-place, trade experts told a Houston audi-ence recently.

Former Secretary of State RobertMosbacher St., who helped the Bushad|ninistration lay the foundation for theNorth American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), believes it is critical that theUnited States allow other Latin Ameri-can nations to join NAFTA. t Ie was akeynote speaker at Access-Mexico, atwo-day conference organized by theGreater Houston Partnership.

"We now need to move forwardtogether for a free trade agreement for allof the Americas," Mosbacher told con-ference participants. "We see the year2005 as a target date. I’m worried thatwe’re not moving quickly enough."

NAFTA and the concept of a hemi-sphere-wide trade pact was a recurringtheme at the Access-Mexico Trade and

Investment Conference. Speakers fromseveral Mexican states talked about busi-ness opportunities in their areas, andparticipants from Texas and Mexico alsohad the opportunity to participate inone-on-one meetings to negotiate busi-ness ventures.

NAFTA was enacted in the UnitedStates in 1994 but is making headlinesagain as President Clinton seeks toexpand the pact to include Chile andother Latin American nations. Clintonrecently said he would ask Congress togrant him fast-track authority to negoti-ate such a pact, but a number of legisla-tors oppose the idea. Fast-track authorityallows Congress to approve a tradeagreement negotiated by the president,but lawmakers cannot amend the agree-ment. But critics of NAFTA claim theagreement has cost American jobs, and anumber of legislators are reluctant toexpand Clinton’s negotiating power.

Mosbacher, however, said NAFTAhas had a negligible effect on U.S. jobs.Furthermore, he expressed concern thatthe United States is losing competitiveground while Asian countries areexpanding their trade roles and Euro-pean countries are carving out niches inLatin American markets. Chile hasrepeatedly asked to join NAFTA, but

Opposite page: Former Com-merce Secretary RobertMosbacher.Speakers at Access Mexicoincluded Houston Port Com-mission Chairman NedHolmes (left) and Raul Hino-josa Ojeda (right), researcher at UCLA.

last year joined Mercosur --an increasingly powerfultrading bloc of South Ameri-can nations -- because the

United States has failed to respond tothe request.

"If the Mercosur nations continue tobuild their trade relations with Europe,all of us in North America, the NAFTAgroup, will be the losers," Mosbachersaid.

Mosbacher’s thoughts were echoed byRaul Hinojosa Ojeda, another keynotespeaker at the conference. Ojeda isresearch director at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles’ North Ameri-can Integration and Development Cen-ter. He conducted a study on NAFTA’simpact that found the agreement hadvery little effect on U.S. employmentlevels.

"On the contrary," said Hinojosa,"what is very interesting from our find-ings is that, even while U.S. exports to

Mexico suffered a dramatic declinebecause of the Mexican peso crisis in1995 -- not at all because of NAFTA --there has still been a small net increasein jobs in the United States. If we hadhad no peso crisis in Mexico, we wouldhave had a very dramatic increase in jobcreation in the United States.

Ojeda said NAFTA has served a verypositive purpose by reducing tariffs,increasing private investment and stimu-lating the flow of goods north and south.However, he has urged the U.S. govern-ment to work on monetary cooperationas a means of creating real long-termgrowth in Mexico. He did not advocatea common North American currencybut, rather, a cooperative system inwhich the U.S. Federal Reserve Boardconsiders the impact of its actions --such as raising interest rates -- onemerging markets like Mexico. He urgedthe business community to push forCongressional approval of fast track.

Ned Holmes, chairman of the Port ofHouston Commission, spoke of Hous-ton’s relationship with Mexico during amorning session. Texas and Mexico --

John Horan, PHA trade development direc-tor, visits with Brenda Arnett, executivedirector of the Texas Commerce Depart-ment.

Houston Port Commissioner Vidal Martinez (left) visits with Abraham Sherman (center) of Cooper & Lybrand and CarlosMarron of GBM International Inc.

who once fought each other in a bitterwar -- share a COllnnon border, coi13_l~[lon

interests and a common heritage. Water-borne trade between Mexico and thePort of Houston grew from 7.7 milliontons to 11.4 million between 1993 and1996.

"That is a phenomenal increase," hesaid.

In fact, Mexico is the Port of Hous-ton’s top trading partner. Houston’s tradewith Mexico exceeds the volume oftrade between Houston and its othernine leading trading partners combined.

"The relationship between Texas andMexico has shown remarkable strength

and resilience," Holmes said. "Mexico’srelationship with Texas has never beenstronger."

Brenda Arnett, executive director ofthe Texas Department of Commerce,told conference participants that Texaswelcomes trade and foreign investment.Her staff works with several Mexicanstates on a daily basis to promote busi-ness.

"Texas has one foreign office, and it’sin Mexico City," she said. "That’sbecause we know who our partner is, weknow who we are committed to and weknow where we belong."

The Mexico City office has helpedarrange a number of business ventures.

They include: a San Angelo, Texas,company that has agreed to export autoparts to Mexico; a Mexican corporationthat will build low-income housing forthe Texas Department of Housing; and aDallas company and Mexican firm thatare exporting bannisters to Germany.

Arnctt also talked about the Com-merce Department’s World Wide Website, which she said has proved invalu-able in bringing Texan and Mexicanbusinesses together. Among the site’sfeatures is a buy-and-sell electronic bul-letin board for companies looking toimport and export goods or services.

Texas Department of Commerce (Austin, Texas)Phone: (512) 462-9194Web site: http://www.tdoc.state.tx.us/Texas Department of Commerce (Mexico)Phone: 011-525-546-8876Web site: http://txdocmx.nafta.net/Port of Houston AuthorityPhone: (713) 670-2400 or (800) 688-DOCK.Businesses calling from Mexico may dial toll-free:95-800-HOU-PORT.Web site: http://www.portofhouston.com/port of houston

Greater Houston PartnershipPhone: (713) 651-2100Web site: http://www.houston.orgA copy of Professor Ojeda’s NAFTA impact study maybe viewed on line at:http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/NAFTA96/Several Latin American nations also maintain trade andconsular offices in Houston. They are listed in the Portof Houston Directory, which appears quarterly in thePort of Houston Magazine.

4

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ur Mill Opens

A mber Milling Co., a divi-

sion of Harvest States, hasopened the doors of itsnewly built high-tech flour

mill in Houston. The mill, located at thePort of Houston Authority’s WoodhouseTerminal, adjacent to the Houston Pub-lic Grain Elevator, recently began pro-ducing flour for its first customers.

Amber Milling’s newest operationprocesses hard wheat into flour for bak-eries and other commercial customers.The mill uses the most advanced tech-nology available and has an outputcapacity of 10,000 hundredweight, orone million pounds, of flour per day.

"Amber Milling is using as much ofthe latest technology as possible so wecan be customer-responsive," says JaysonSeymour, plant manager for the mill."Everything here is designed for qualitycontrol."

Technology is apparent everywhere inthe facility. On the mill’s second floor isthe control room, which houses comput-ers and touch-screen monitors. Bytouching icons on the monitor screen,the operator can control wheat grinding,flour blending and any other part of themilling process. This advanced technol-ogy allows the miller to precisely blendflours to meet bakers’ needs.

"Every baker has specific characteris-tics he wants in his flour," says Seymour."Everything we do here is designed touse the most advanced technology avail-

able to give the customer the highest-grade flour possible."

The mill process flow was equippedentirely by Satake USA Inc. of Houston.Satake also supplied the major processmachines. A few years ago, Satake, amajor global manufacturer of rice pro-cessing equipment, purchased TheSimon Flour Milling Group, whichdesigned and built grain mills around theworld for more than a century.

Satake is installing two milling unitsat the facility. A conventional mill forwheat processing is already operational.The second unit, utilizing the Peritecdebranner manufactured by Satake, willstart up later this year. The debranning

"Everything isdesigned for

quality control."

process uses the latest technology toabrade the bran layers from the wheatkernel. This is the first U.S. flour mill touse the new debranning process, whichallows the miller to temper, or condi-tion, the wheat faster and process moreefficiently.

"It’s a very unique and very revolu-tionary approach to flour milling," says

Seymour.The processed flour can be loaded

into truck or rail car at the mill. Accord-ing to Seymour, more than 50,000pounds of flour can be loaded into atruck in two minutes or less.

Amber Milling is leasing approxi-mately 700,000 bushels of space at theHouston Public Elevator next door forstoring unprocessed wheat. A 350-foot-tong air belt built 40 feet above theground carries the wheat from the eleva-tor to the mill. Grain travels on a bed ofair over the belt, similar to the waypucks move about in an air hockeygame. The system requires minimalmaintenance.

Flour is processed at the mill aroundthe clock. Throughout the building,wheat and flour travel along an intricatesystem of pipe that moves the product bypneumatics or by gravity.

The Houston site is the second builtby Harvest States and the AmberMilling Division. Amber has processedhigh-quality pasta flour and semolina forhalf a century but decided to diversifyinto hard wheat milling. The Houstonmill will process hard wheat for use inmaking pizza crust, bread and tortillas.Most of the wheat will come by truck orrail from Kansas, West Texas and Northand South Dakota.

The Houston mill is Amber’s first

(Continued on page 18)

ConsuJar Corps Duties

Are Demanding

Consuls general are sometimesperceived as leading glamour-ous lives, attending numerous

receptions, meeting high-ranking offi-cials and traveling. Being people of greattact, they rarely complain about theharsher realities of the job: long workinghours, constant relocations, reams ofpaperwork, numerous speeches and hav-ing little time for family. Consuls areunsung heroes whose work is of immea-surable value to their host countries andhomelands.

Houston has the fourth-largest con-sular corps in the United States, with 66countries represented here. Many con-suls serve a five- to 10-state area. Theirhome nations chose to establish con-sulates in Houston because the city ishome to many foreign nationals, has oneof the world’s largest ports and is an oiland gas center.

About half of Houston’s consular rep-resentatives are consuls general, orcareer consuls, and the other half con-sists of honorary consuls, local citizenschosen to represent nations. On theirshoulders falls much of the detail workthat is so critical to good diplomaticrelations.

"A consul general should have a goodknowledge of persons and facts and asound judgment to be able to advise his

or her own nationals as well as the repre-sentatives of the host country. Anddiploruats must acquire that fast, sinceafter a couple of years they usually rotateto another country," says Klaus Aurisch,consul general for the Republic of Ger-many.

"The consul’s art is to bring the rightpeople together. His judgment must betrusted."

Having served in Houston for fouryears, longer than any of the city’s otherconsular officials, Aurisch is the dean ofthe corps. As such, he represents thecorps at various functions and coordi-nates the monthly meetings of Houston’sconsular officials.

Aurisch and other consuls perform ahuge variety of duties that go a long waytoward fostering friendship and tradebetween their homelands and the Unit-ed States. A consul’s itinerary mayinclude talking to schoolchildren, enter-taining visiting dignitaries, assisting for-eign nationals visiting the United Statesor answering journalists’ questions. Con-suls bestow their government’s honorson local civic and business leaders inofficial ceremonies, and they help bringperformers and art exhibits from theirhome countries to town.

Consuls representing Italy, Turkey,Mexico, Spain and China helped con-

vince their governments to be the themecountry for the Houston InternationalFestival, which features a variety of per-forming and visual artists from the hon-ored nation.

All these efforts may sound like icingon the cake, but they have an importantbearing on the way other countries per-ceive Houston, the state of Texas andthe United States, as well as how we per-ceive other nations. And while manynations, such as Germany, maintain sep-arate trade offices in U.S. cities, othersrely on their consulates to facilitate tradeand foreign investment. A consul mayadvise foreign nationals on importinggoods to or investing in a business in thehost country; or he may advise Ameri-cans looking fi)r business opportunitiesin his home country. In Houston, a con-sul may assist foreign seafarers who are inport or testify at trials involving foreignshipping lines.

When a foreign president visits, theconsul general representing the digni-tary’s country is often inw)lved in thepreparations. Houston tends to attract alot of visiting dignitaries because the cityis home to fbrmer U.S. President GeorgeBush, former Secretary of State JamesBaker and former Secretary of Com-merce Robert Mosbacher.

"With prominent retirees living inHouston, fi)reign presidential visits havebecome more frequent," says Aurisch.

Houston Port Commissioner ChaseUntermeyer, who serves on the city’sConsular Task Force, points out thatHouston has long been a major stop onthe itineraries of foreign visitors. Thecity’s eminent guests have includedQueen Elizabeth of the United

Houston has the fourth-largestconsular corps in the United States.

Kingdom; Charles, Prince of Wales; Chi-nese leader Deng Xiaoping; and, mostrecently, Chilean President EduardoFrei.

"The size of the city itself and itsimpact on American affairs are one reasonHouston has strong consular representa-tion," Untcrmcyer says. "Also, the factthat there are so many consulates here --1 think that tends to build on itself andattract more consulates."

The Port of Houston Authority com-plements the efforts of local consuls byoffering briefings and port tours for visit-

"The consul’sart is to bringthe right peopletogether. Hisjudgment mustbe trusted."

ing dignitaries and consuls who are newto town. The Port Authority also hostsan annual reception and a boat tour fi>rthe consular corps. Pat Younger, legisla-tive affairs manager for the Port Author-ity, serves as the authority’s liaison with

the corps. She provides consuls statisticson trade with their constituent countriesand enlists their assistance when thePort Authority is planning a trade mis-sion abroad.

Klaus Aurisch, consul general for theRepublic of Germany in Houston, is dean of the Consulars Corps.Houston has one of the largest Consular Corps in the United States, with60 countries represented.

"While consuls serve in their posthere, they act as spokespersons for theimportance of trade between Houstonand their countries," says Younger."When they take other posts and travelabroad, they carry with them theirknowledge of our city and port. Theyconvey their perceptions to others. Sothey play a very important role whereHouston is concerned."

Younger serves on the city’s ConsularTask Force along with Untermeyer. TheTask Force is an advisory body to theHouston International ProtocolAlliance. The panel’s members keepabreast of countries that are consideringlocating consulates in Houston anti assistin efforts to attract new consulates.

Houston Port Commissioner Vidal Mar-tinez, an attorney specializing in interna-tional law, also has extensive contactwith the Consular Corps. Martmez ishonorary chairman of the Houston Con-sular Ball, which will honor Chile.

Modern culture often relies on thelnternet, the telephone and faxmachines to communicate and do busi-ness. But Aurisch points out that diplo-macy still requires a human touch.

"You need a personal presence. Tech-nology can adwmce diplomacy, but ulti-mately you cannot downsizc the humanfactor to zero," says Aurisch. "With aconsular corps, there is always a personwith whom interactions can takeplace."lZl

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Brenda Rouse is TopOperations Employee

.... renda Rouse has been named Employee of the Year forthe Port of Houston Authority’s Operations Division.

Rouse is inbond coordinator at Barbours Cut ContainerTerminal. Her job involves detailed recordkeeping and exten-sive interaction with customers and with U.S. Customs Service

staff. She also frequently fills in for her supervisor or works inthe terminal’s interchange room.

She joined the PHA staff in March 1980 as a cargo controlclerk at Barbours Cut Terminal. She later worked as a controlroom operator and a CRT operator at the terminal. In Septem-

ber 1988, she was promoted to her current posi-tion.

Rouse was chosen as Employee of the Yearbecause she is well organized, efficient and isalways professional in her dealings with cus-tomers and Customs personnel.

"She is a team player and is responsive to hercoworkers’ and supervisor’s needs," says JimmyJamison, ma,_~ager of Barbours Cut Terminal."Brenda can be depended on also to assist withtraining steamship line staff in the use of thecomputerized inventory control system andhelps them with problems whenever needed."

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Houston Tonnage Figures Continue to GrowForeign trade through the Port of

Houston rose 5.6 percent in 1996,according to figures released recently bythe U.S. Department of Comnlerce.Houston’s foreign waterborne tonnagetotaled nearly 76.5 million tons last year.

The Port of t touston Authority alsorecently released numbers indicatingthat tonnage at the port’s public docksheld even during the first quarter of thisyear, totaling 5.3 million tons. The quar-terly total, which accounts only for Portof Houston Authority facilities, repre-sents a 1 percent increase from the sameperiod in 1996.

()eneral cargo at the public wharvespassed 2.9 million tons, up 20 percentfrom the first three monlhs of last year.The Pl IA Bulk Materials Handling

Plant, which is operated by a privatecompany, reported a 70 percent increasefor a total of nearly 279,000 tons.

At Barbours Cut Container Terminal,cargo volume rose to nearly 1.5 milliontons, up 12 percent from the first quarterof 1996; these figures include container-ized, project, bulk and other varieties ofcargo. Containerized cargo at BarboursCut exceeded 141,600 TEUs, up 7 per-cent from 1996.

hnported steel crossing PHA docksrose by 54 percent, totaling 725,000 tonsfor the quarter.

Bulk shipments showed decreases inseveral commodities during the firstthree months of the year. Industrialchemicals dropped 5 percent, weighingin at 1.6 million tons. Petroleum prod-

Helicopter Is Loaded Aboard NYK-NOSAC Vessel atBarbours Cut TerminalAn Apache helicopter recently was shipped from the Port of Houston Authority’sBarbours Cut Container Terminal to the Middle East. The helicopter had sustainedfire damage and was brought to the United States for repairs. From Houston, theunit was shipped back to the Middle East. The aircraft was partly disassembled andshrink-wrapped for shipment overseas. The M/V KAIJIN, which sails in NYK-NOSAC’sjoint service, transported the unit from Barbours Cut to Abu Dhabi, United ArabEmirates. Barwil Agencies served as agent for the vessel.

ucts fell 18 percent fi)r a total of 71,000tons. A major increase among bulk ship-ments was petroleum coke, whichjumped 145 percent for a total of198,000 tons. (3

Projects SlatedAt Barbours Cut

The Port of Houston Authorityrecently awarded contracts and soughtbids for four capital improvement proj-ects at Barbours Cut Container Termi-nal.

Port of Houston Commissionersawarded a contract to Mid-Gulf Industri-al lnc. for the installation of storm tie-downs at Barbours Cut Berths 1 and 2.The work is expected to cost approxi-mately $190,000.

Force Corp. received a contract forrailroad crossing repairs at the terminal.The project will cost an estimated$126,000.

The Port Authority began seekingbids for four crane spreader bars at theterminal. Spreader bars on two of theterminal’s wharf cranes need replacing.Additionally, two new wharf cranes andfour more yard cranes are scheduled tobe delivered to the terminal during thethird quarter of this year. The bars willbe installed on three of the docksidecranes and one of the yard cranes at anestimated cost of $440,000.

Bids also were being sought for twomachines to handle empty containers atBarbours Cut. The terminal has threesuch machines but has had to rent addi-tional cranes to keep up with the trafficincrease at the terminal. The newmachines will be able to stack empty

12

containers five-high instead of four,increasing the terminal’s empty contain-er storage capacity by 25 percent. Thetwo machines are expected to cost about$380,000. ~1

Seaboard MarineBegins HoustonExpress Service

Seaboard Marine now offers directexpress service from Houston toVenezuela.

"Our new Houston service is the logi-cal expansion for us to make in a marketthat we have traditionally led," saidRobert Schicchi, vice president ofSeaboard’s South American division.

Venezuela is the Port of Houston’ssecond-leading trading partner whenranked by tonnage, accounting for 9.7million tons of cargo valued at $1.9 bil-lion. When ranked by dollar value,Venezuela is Houston’s No. 1 partner.

Seaboard traditionally has servedVenezuela only from the Port of Miami.The line is adding Venezuelan calls to itsexisting Gulf Service to and from theWest Coast of South America.

Now, vessels will head from the Portof Houston Authority’s Woodhouse Ter-minal to Puerto Cabello, Guanta andMaracaibo every fortnight. Seaboard willaccept breakbulk, RO/RO andcontainerized cargo for the service.

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Fender SystemsTo Be Repaired

Plans are in the works to repair thewharves and fender systems at threedocks in the Port of Houston Authority’sTurning Basin Terminal.

The Port Authority recently adver-tised for bids to repair the systems atWharves 29, 30 and 31. The PortAuthority is repairing the terminal’swharves and fender systems in phases.

The work on Wharves 29 to 31 willcost approximately $2.5 million. ~1

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Port of Houston AuthorityPromotes TexarribeanCruises at Seatrade ’97Port of Houston representativesrecently traveled to the Seatrade’97 conference in Miami to tellthe industry about Houston’s newcruise service. Norwegian CruiseLine began offering weeklyCaribbean cruises from the Portof Houston Authority’s BarboursCut Container Terminal startingMay 25. Shown at the PortAuthority’s conference booth are[from left) Richard Gehring ofPrime Interests, a consulting firmthat has helped the PortAuthority prepare for the cruiseservice; Capt. John Scardasis,PHA; Pam Summers of theHouston Convention and VisitorsBureau; George Williamson~PHA; and Charles Hendrick Jr. ofPrime Interests.

MSC LAURENCE Joins MediterraneanShipping’s Service Between U.S. Gulfand Northern EuropeThe MSC LAURENCE, operated byMediterranean Shipping Co., recently madeits maiden voyage to the Port of HoustonAuthority’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal.The LAURENCE sails for MSC’s service toNorthern Europe. Attending a maiden voyageplaque presentation aboard the ship are(from left) Roy Carlisle, Port of HoustonAuthority; Capt. G. Savarese, master of thevessel; and Wanda Cain and Marie Rebstockof Mediterranean Shipping.

Port of Houston AuthorityExecutive Director VisitsEvergreen Group Chairman ~ ~ ~’~~

Houston port representatives recentlytraveled on a trade mission to East ..................Asia, stopping in Hong Kong andDalian, China; Seoul, Korea; andTaipei, Taiwan. In Taipei, they visitedthe world headquarters of Evergreen ~Group and discussed maritimeindustry trends with company .......... ~ ....chairman Chang Yung-Fa. Here, TomKornegay, PHA executive director[left), is shown with the chairman.

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THE COST EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL DREDGINGPublic Affairs FirmOpens Office

Admiralty Associates International,which provides public affairs services toshipping companies, has opened a Hous-ton office. Admiralty Associates is basedin Stamford, Conn.

Houston is the site of the company’sfirst U.S. Gulf office. Leslie Sweet, whohas served as director of operations andclient relations at the company’s head-quarters, heads the Houston office.

"In choosing our new location, wetook into consideration Houston’sprominence in the international ship-ping community, the ever-increasingnumber of cargo imports into the regionand subsequent increase in vessel traf-fic," said Jesse Lewis, president of thecompany. "We also sought a better andmore immediate way to service ourclients whose vessels trade in the U.S.

(Cbntinued on Page 169

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Joe D. HughesO A Haliburton Company

/~JDH~-"

SINCE 1896

14035 Industrial RoadHouston, Texas 77015

P.O. Box 96469, Houston, TX 77213-6469(800) 231-0527

HAULING JOBOF THE YEAR

-1990-

Phone: (713) 450-8888Fax: (713) 450-8828

16

Maersk Container Ship M/VTEXAS Is Reflagged at BarboursCut Terminal

The M/V TEXAS, a container shipoperated by Danish carrier Maersk Inc.,now sails under the U.S. flag. Where doyou reflag a ship named for the LoneStar State? At a Texas port, of course.Maersk chose the Port of HoustonAuthority’s Barbours Cut ContainerTerminal as the site for the honors. TheTEXAS is the first container ship operat-ed by a non-US, carrier to carry theU.S. flag.Above: Shown aboard the TEXAS are(from left) Gary Temple of OccidentalChemical Corp., a Maersk customer;Robert Morgan, PHA; Charles Hall,Maersk; Port of Houston CommissionerChase Untermeyer; Capt. Jan Kum-mernes, master of the vessel; PhilipConners, Maersk; Jimmy Jamison, PHA;and Michael Stolarczyk of Maersk.Right: Untermeyer, Conners and Hallchat during a reception following thereflagging.Below: The M/V TEXASat Barbours Cut.

tions for more than 25 major marinecasualties worldwide, including oil poilu-tion and other incidents in Tampa Bay,the Strait of Malacca in the IndianOcean, the Panama (;anal and off thecoast of the Fujairah in the ArabianPeninsula. They also have assistedsbipowners and their liability insurersfollowing mutinies and cruise ship acci-dents.

( ContiJtltecl./?o~l t’~qe 16)

Gulf or have offices here. This makesHouston the ideal place."

Sweet can be contacted at the follow-ing numbers: phone, (281) 260-0840;flax, (281 ) 260-0841; mobile phone,(281) 638-9045; and 24-hour toll-freephone line: (800) 453-4454.

Established in 1992, Admiralty Asso-ciates has handled public affairs opera-

/SA

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Lewis said Houston was also chosenbecause of its proximity to New Orleansand other ports in the U.S. Coast Guard’sEighth District. Working with the CoastGuard is one of the company’s top priori-ties during an emergency, he said.

Floue Mill(Continued from Page 7)

facility in the U.S. Southwest. HarvestStates selected Houston for the mi[l sitebecause of the city’s proximity to a largecustomer base in South Texas andadjoining states, the availability of railservice and the convenient location nearthe Houston Public Elevator. Because

the mill was built next to the elevator,Amber Milling did not need to constructstorage silos. The company also is con-sidering exporting flour through the Portof Houston.

"The Port Authority has been won-derful to work with," Seymour says."We’ve had a vital partnership here.They’ve really made us feel welcome andfeel like a part of the industrial commu-nity here."

Amber Milling is the seventh-largestmiller in the country. Harvest States is agrain marketing, food processing, farmsupply and services cooperative based inSt. Paul, Minn. Harvest States’ membersinclude more than 500 local coopera-tives in an area extending from theupper Midwest, across the northern andcentral Plains states to the PacificNorthwest.

The mill can be reached by telephoneat (713) 676-1100 or by fax at (713)676-2278.

[~-- Port of Houston Authority - -~1Location: http://www.portofhouston.com/port of houston/

While on the

We!!!! wide webhttp://www.portofhouston.com/port of houston/

Porto, S,Authority

18

Russian Compressor Shipped byAir and Sea to Tuxpan, MexicoThe recent shipment of a 90-toncompressor through the Port of Houstonwas carried out in a unique fashion,using air and ocean transport. Above: ARussian-manufactured Antonov 124-100cargo plane, the world’s largest type ofcargo plane, carried the compressorfrom Italy to Houston’s JacintoportTerminal.Right: At Houston, the compressor wasloaded aboard the M/V STEVNS SEA,operated by Transunisa, then deliveredto Tuxpan, Mexico. Ten days later, theterminal handled an identical shipment.Jacintoport Terminal is owned by thePort of Houston Authority and operatedby Jacintoport Corp., with CoastalTerminal Operators as stevedore.

Below: Observing the loading were [fromleft) John Donley of Coastal TerminalOperators; Mrs. Rudolph Hess; RudolphHess of Transunisa; Andre van Oosten ofJacintoport Corp.; and Jose AntionioOcamp, representing the compressor’sMexican receivers.

\,

m/

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World Projects International CoordinatesReactor Shipment from Germany toPasadena, TexasHouston-based World Projects International Inc.recently arranged for a chemical reactor to beshipped from Deggendorf, Germany, to aHoechst Celanese plant in Pasadena, Texas. The272-ton unit was mounted on two LASH bargesand traveled along the Danube River toRotterdam, where the barges were loaded ontoa ship. The onit was discharged at the Port ofHouston Authority’s Barbours Cut ContainerTerminal onto a 10 axle trailer and driven toPasadena. Shippers Stevedoring was freighthandler for the project. World Projects hashandled similar reactor shipments in the past.

On hand for the discharge at Barbours Cut were(from left) John Chapman of Hoechst Celanese;Capt. Nick Jacomides of World Projects; JohnHoran, PHA; and Nick Stratigakis of ShippersStevedoring¯

MSC Charters M/V MERCHANT PRINCE for Service Between U.S. Gulf and West Coast of South America

The M/V MERCHANT PRINCE recently made its maiden visit tothe Port of Houston Authority’s Barbours Cut ContainerTerminal. The ship is on time charter to MediterraneanShipping Co. and is being used in MSC’s service to the SouthAmerican west coast. The ship left Barbours Cut fully loaded,

with 968 TEUs of cargo. Attendingpresentation aboard theRobert Morgan and Roy Carlisle,Commissioner Robert Gillette; Camaster of the ship; and James Ilardi of MSC.

Maritime Industry Cooks Up aFeast for Seafarers Centers

Houston’s annual Maritime Festival,benefiting the Houston InternationalSeafarers Centers, recently was held atthe Turning Basin Terminal center. Thetwo facilities at the Turning Basin andBarbours Cut Terminal provide places forvisiting crew members to relax, eat, playand seek spiritual guidance fromchaplains. A highlight of the festival wasa barbecue cook-off in which Port ofHouston Authority staff and otherindustry teams served up their bestvittles. Winners and participants in thecook-off are featured on these pages.Above: Members of Covey Transport’sKillin’ Time Keekers show off the firstplace trophy they won in the brisketcompetition.Left: Taking second place in the brisketcompetition were Canal Cartage’s CCCCookers. Standing with the group at farleft is Genie Kobarg, chairwoman of thecook-off’s judging committee.

Above: Srnith& Johnson’s TasteThis Kookin’ team took top honors inthe barbecued chicken competition.Posing with team members at farright is Jim Elkins, chairman of thebarbecue cook off committee.

Right: The second-place trophy inthe chicken competition waspresented to Canal Cartage’s CCCCookers.

Below: Smiling supporters of theHarris County Navigators cook-offteam, consisting mostly of Port ofHouston Authority staff and friends,serve up a tasty feast. TheNavigators placed fourth in thebrisket division.

___J

i

.........Port of ~Uston Authority Honors TopEmployees During Annual Barbecue

The Port of Houston Authority recently heldits annual barbecue for employees at.BuckhOrn Ranch~ The picnic provides anopportunity for PHA staff to enjoy each

~, otS’~’r’s company in a leisurely fashion. It’salso a chance for the Port Authority tobestow honors on some its top performers.Two award recipjen~ who are not picturedhere were Darrelt Evans and Pat McDon-nel. Evans works in the maintenance~?~U~ Cut Terminal. He

~~-~Aw~d, which is pre-~~i~ual who has promoted..... safety. McDonnel, who works in the Turning

Basin Terminal truck and rail office, re-d, he Customer Service Award for her~~k.~.,~~,,W’illiemson announces that

~-.~J~irginia Hitt of the Trade Developmenta~’~ visi~b~s~ named 1997 Employee of

the Year. Nominees for the award were.... ~t~C ~’~ GPeg o ryl Administration

Division; Linda Upp, Protection Services.......... I~jvision Ann Johnson, Operations Division~an~"~irly ~’eei-nan, Facilities Division.~crew of the PHA fireboat Vernon

Bailey i~’~i~d the Executive Directors~d;,:a group honor, for their safety ef-

forts. Accepting the award are RobertJanisch [left) of the fireboat crew andRub~ri’~ArredO~do; manager of the marine

members Andre Evans, Ted Fisher and.... . ~ ,~-~Beniet Zogg.

....

.... Z4

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At Cooper/T, Smith, we can see boththe forest and the trees. We have madea strong commitment to the pulp andpaper [ndustw through equipment.engineering and service. It’s what ourcustomers cali "strength throughIV "di ersity. And at Cooper/T. Smith, webuild on it every day.

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