July 2025 Meeting: Port Houston Celebrates Excellence in Safety

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 28, 2025--

On Tuesday, July 22, the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority met for its regular monthly meeting. Chairman Ric Campo opened the meeting by commending Port Houston’s Fire Department and mutual aid partners from Baytown, LaPorte, and Seabrook for their swift and coordinated response in safely extinguishing a fire onboard a docked vessel at Bayport without any injuries.

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“This is a true success story and shows the importance of collaboration between multiple agencies and the role our port plays in keeping everyone along the channel safe,” said Chairman Campo. “Thank you to everyone involved for their commitment to protecting our port.”

Additionally, Chairman Campo commended the Houston Pilots, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), U.S. Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection for the work they do every day to keep marine vessel traffic and commerce flowing through the Houston Ship Channel, which is ranked the No. 1 busiest waterway in the U.S.

In the interest of building the next generation of maritime workforce and leaders, Port Houston invests in an annual paid Summer Internship Program that exposes students to a range of experiences. During the meeting, Port Houston CEO Charlie Jenkins recognized 18 summer interns, representing ten universities. The students spent the summer learning and contributing across a variety of Port Houston departments from accounting to channel operations.

The head of Port Houston’s newly established Strategy Division, formed in March, provided a mid-year review of the organization’s 2025 Strategic Plan and reported that all targets are on track for completion by year-end. Notable achievements include supporting Project 11, advocating for freight mobility improvement projects, and implementing the NXGEN ERP Program.

Port Houston also recognized the award of $7.8 million from the Texas Department of Transportation to support construction of the Bayport Southern Access Road, a project aimed at improving freight mobility around the Bayport Container Terminal.

Project 11 Updates & Operations Highlights

Port Houston reported a dip in June volumes but noted that total tonnage remains up for the year. However, most notably, Port Houston surpassed handling 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in June. More details can be found via the press release issued on July 17.

As an update, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to begin clearing the Barbours Cut Flare draft restriction with a Great Lakes rental hopper dredge around August 1, 2025. The draft restriction is expected to be clear within three to four weeks.

Additional Meeting Updates & Announcements

Port Houston’s Security and Emergency Operations team announced plans to join the Harris County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. This move will integrate the port into a regional, FEMA-recognized framework, strengthening future access to mitigation grants and supporting the strategy to work efficiently and collaborate regionally.

The Port Commission will not meet in August and will be reconvened on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.

About Port Houston

For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the area’s largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient container terminals in the country. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 private and eight public terminals is the nation’s largest port for waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S. The Port of Houston supports the creation of nearly 1.5 million jobs in Texas and 3.37 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling $439 billion in Texas and $906 billion in economic impact across the nation. For more information, visit the website at PortHouston.com.

Firefighters representing Port Houston's Fire Department are saluted during the July meeting of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority. Port Commission Chairman Ric Campo opened the meeting, commending Port Houston’s Fire Department and mutual aid partners from Baytown, LaPorte, and Seabrook for their swift and coordinated response in safely extinguishing a fire onboard a docked vessel at Bayport without any injuries.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)