Port of Houston reopens all container terminals

The Port of Houston has reported that both of its container terminals have reopened. It closed them down last week because a worker who had been at both sites tested positive for COVID-19.

The port said in a statement that it had conducted a joint investigation with the International Longshoremen’s Association, the union that represents the afflicted worker, “which indicated that his exposure to others was fairly limited.”

It reopened the Bayport and Barbour’s Cut terminals for vessel operations and resumed normal overall operations, including trucks coming in and out of gates to deliver or retrieve containers.

The port said further that others with whom the hospitalized worker had been in direct contact over two days were in self-quarantine, and others at lower risk because of social distancing from the worker “have been advised.”

Decisions on demurrage, or extra costs incurred by ships waiting to dock during the shutdowns, had yet to be addressed. 

The closure came as a blow to those shipping lines that operate trans-Atlantic services, which had been largely been unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks compared with those from North Asia, which have had to deal with lockdowns at Chinese ports. 

This was in addition to the slow return to work for Chinese manufacturing as a result of lengthy quarantine periods. These appear to have eased significantly over the last few days, with China almost back to pre-Lunar New Year manufacturing, and exports starting to increase to fulfill the backlog of orders.

For more information visit porthouston.com

25th March 2020