1. Steven W. Nerheim Director, VTS Houston/Galveston
State of the Waterway 2013
Steven W. Nerheim
Director, VTS Houston/Galveston
April 18, 2013
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
United States Coast Guard

2. U.S. Port Rankings
(Millions of short tons and % of change from 2009 ACOE data.) 1
Port of S Louisiana, LA
236.3
+11.1% 15
Norfolk, VA
41.6
+2.5% 2
Houston, TX
227.1
+7.5% 16
Baltimore, MD
39.6
+31.3% 3
New York, NY and NJ
139.2
-3.8% 17
Pascagoula, MS
37.3
+1.8% 4
Beaumont, TX
77.0
+13.6% 18
Duluth, MN
36.6
+21.1% 5
Long Beach, CA
75.4
+4.0% 19
Savannah, GA
34.7
+7.2% 6
Corpus Christi, TX
73.7
+7.9% 20
Tampa, FL
34.2
-2.0% 7
New Orleans, LA
72.4
+6.2% 21
Philadelphia, PA
34.0 8
Los Angeles, CA
62.4
+6.8% 22
Pittsburg, PA
33.8
+2.9% 9
Huntington-Tristate, WV
61.5 23
Valdez, AK
31.9
-7.5% 10
Texas City, TX
56.6 24
St. Louis, MO
30.8
-1.8% 11
Plaquemines, LA
55.8
+9.7% 25
Port Arthur, TX
30.2
-10.6% 12
Mobile, AL
55.7
+6.7% 13
Baton Rouge, LA
55.5
+7.0% 27
Freeport, TX
26.7
-2.3% 14
Lake Charles, LA
50.9
-20.2% 41
Galveston, TX
13.9
+42.3%

3. U.S. Port Rankings – 2011
(Millions of short tons and % of change from 2010 ACOE data.) 1
Port of S Louisiana, LA
246.5
+4.3% 15
Norfolk, VA
47.4
+13.9% 2
Houston, TX
237.8
+4.7% 16
Baltimore, MD
44.9
+13.2% 3
New York, NY and NJ
139.2
0.0% 17
Pascagoula, MS
36.9
-1.1% 4
Long Beach, CA
80.3
+6.4% 18
St. Louis, MO and IL
36.5
+18.6% 5
New Orleans, LA
77.2
+6.6% 19
Savannah, GA
35.5
+2.2% 6
Beaumont, TX
73.7
-4.3% 20
Duluth-Superior, MN and WI
35.1
-4.1% 7
Corpus Christi, TX
70.5
-4.2% 21
Pittsburg, PA
33.8
-0.1% 8
Los Angeles, CA
65.0
+4.2% 22
Tampa, FL
31.4
-8.2% 9
Huntington – Tristate
58.6
-4.8% 23
Philadelphia, PA
30.6
-10.0% 10
Baton Rouge, LA
57.9 24
Port Arthur, TX
30.3
+0.1% 11
Texas City, TX
57.8
+2.1% 25
Valdez, AK
29.8
-6.5% 12
Mobile, AL
55.6
-0.3% 13
Lake Charles, LA
54.2
-0.7% 31
Freeport, TX
23.3
-12.6% 14
Plaquemines, LA
54.1
-3.1% 41
Galveston, TX
13.7
-1.5%

4. VTS Movements - 2012 Tug/Tow 134,318 +4.25% Ships 22,906 -0.77% Other
7,543
-15.06%
Public
2,026
-9.71%
Total Users
166,793
+2.30%
Ferries
108,360
Total
274786

5. Transit Summary

6. 2012 Typical Day in the VTSA Average High 40 Tanker Transits 64 22
Freighter Transits 1
Cruise Ship Transits 10
368
Tow Transits
472 6
Public Vessel Transits 33
297
Ferry Transits
315 21 75
OSV / Other Transits
Ships in Port 91

7. 2012 Monthly Transits

8. Monthly Comparison:

9. 1998 – 2012 Transits Trend line represents 5 year moving average.
30.31% increase over 15 years
Trend line represents 5 year moving average.

10. Deep Draft Movements
Draft restricted to 43’ 06” August 31 – November 7

11. Incident Summary - 2012 11 Collisions -15.4% 6 Allisions -50%
142 Incidents (130 for 2011) up 9.2%
73 Vessel Casualties +12.3%
34 Groundings +47.8%
11 Collisions -15.4%
6 Allisions -50%
18 Other +5.9%
Wake/Surge, Pollution/Spill, Person in Water, Fire, Medical, Construction, Weather

12. Transit to Incident Ratio

13. Vessel Casualties - Year to Year
73 Total Vessel Casualties
47 Ship
25 Tow
1 Other

14. Ship Casualties

15. Tow Casualties

16. Groundings – Year to Year
Reported causal factors:
Current
Operator Error
AtoN
Wind
Surge by another vessel
Weather
Shoaling
Unknown
1 Ferry Grounding

17. Allisions 6 Allisions 3 involving tows 2 involving ships
1 involving Supply Vessel

18. Collisions
11 Collisions
5 ship/tow
6 tow/tow

19. Channel Closures

20. Hotspots
Grounding
Allision
Collision

21. Reports of Unsafe Moorings (Slack Lines)
Increase of 2.9%
Average speed of vessel reported causing damage or parted lines 5.8 kts with no vessel speed greater than 6.8 kts

22. ATON Knockdowns - 2012 50% - Wind/Current 40% - Traffic Density
97 Total knockdowns
34 Self-reported knockdowns (35% of total knockdowns)
Leading Causes:
50% - Wind/Current
40% - Traffic Density
20% - Operator Error

23. ATON Cost / Recovered

24. Industry Involvement NavOps Committee Waterways Safety
Fleeting
BRIAR
Slack Line
Waterways Safety
Lay Berth
Anchorage Drafts
Additional Anchorages
Dredging Coordination
Education and Outreach
Salvage Coordination

25. On the Horizon Expanding traffic (both size and volume)
New / expanded facilities
Change in workforce demographics
Move to Ellington

26. Contacts VTS Houston/Galveston www.uscg.mil/vtshouston
Vessel Traffic Center
Watch Supervisor (24 hrs)
Director:
Steve Nerheim
Deputy Director:
Warner Welch
Operations Officer
LT Randy Scott

27. U.S. Department of Homeland Security
United States Coast Guard