HOUSTON – 22,000 ships move through the Houston Ship Channel in a given year.
In light of the Baltimore accident, KPRC 2 wanted to speak directly with leaders on these ships to see what their day to day job looks like.
The Port of Houston is the busiest port in the country, moving a ship through every 20 minutes. KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun went aboard one of these ships with Houston Pilots to explain how they navigate the waters.
“It’s just heartbreaking. It’s devastating. Our thoughts and prayers really go out to the Baltimore community,” said Captain Clint Winegar, Presiding Officer with the Houston Pilots Association.
Winegar says what happened in Baltimore -- where a barge that lost power rammed into the Francis Scott Key bridge, causing it to collapse -- wouldn’t happen in Houston.
“A situation like that couldn’t happen here because the bridges are protected. The legs are in an area that’s very shallow that a ship can’t get to,” he said. “Again, having state pilots on board to be able to, in the event of any kind of emergency being able to have instant contact with local law enforcement or Coast Guard.”
Winegar says those state pilots are invaluable and spoke about a massive tanker fire which occurred in 2016.
“Again, another great reason why you want to have a state pilot on board is, it was equipment failure that had that ship, the engine engage. It was an equipment malfunction. Having those state pilots on there to control the situation even though it was a bad event, lot of fire, to be able to control that situation, not have the fire spread to other terminals, other ships,” he said.
Winegar spoke about the container ship they were on Friday.
“This ship here is going to New Orleans next. We’re the busiest container port in the Gulf of Mexico, moving about four million boxes a year,” he said. ““In Houston, we have nearly 100 pilots and to facilitate all the traffic that we have here. It emphasizes the need that you want a state pilot that knows the waterway, that knows all the ins and outs to be able to close a bridge down in the event of emergency.”
A project is underway now to widen the ship channel to allow ships with more cargo to safely pass through. It’s expected to wrap up by 2026.
