The Houston Ship Channel remained shut Monday morning due to ongoing severe thunderstorms in the Houston area that began Sunday night.
“The Houston Ship Channel was shut at 21:36 on Sunday. It’s still shut,” a Houston Pilots dispatcher said Monday. “Currently there are 17 inbound vessels and 16 sailings in the vessel queue.”
He said the severe weather was producing winds in excess of 30 knots and three to four feet waves.
“We don’t know yet when the channel is going to reopen. The weather is going to dictate that,” he added.
Galveston-Texas City Pilots also suspended boardings at the same time Sunday night, but resumed vessel boardings at 8:30 am Monday, according to an update from the US Coast Guard.
The suspension of ship movements in the Houston Ship Channel impacts the delivery and loading schedules of crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products.
The 52-mile ship channel provides access from the Gulf of Mexico through Galveston Bay to various ports in Houston and other cities in the area that have many industrial facilities, including refineries, petrochemical plants and steel and metal facilities.
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