SIMIC

THE South Texas harbour of Port Freeport is taking steps to attract larger vessels with its recently expanded container terminal and the deepening of its harbour channel, reports New York's FreightWaves.

This week's Borderlands report highlights various developments in US-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade.



These include the completion of a US$146 million container terminal expansion at the Texas seaport, an expansion of operations by a chemical logistics provider in Arizona, the opening of a supply chain facility in Mexico by Bollore Logistics, and the seizure of $38 million worth of methamphetamine concealed within a shipment of kale leaf cabbage.



Port Freeport has successfully finished the expansion project of its Velasco Container Terminal, situated along the Gulf of Mexico.



This expansion positions the port to become a regional shipping hub capable of accommodating larger container and tanker vessels.



The project involved the addition of 1,600 feet of new berths, including Berth 8, which was dredged to a depth of 15.5 metres.



Additionally, an 85-foot roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) cargo platform was added to facilitate vehicle shipments and breakbulk operations.



"Port Freeport is excited to commemorate the completion of the Velasco Container Terminal expansion project and announce the new berth is ready to receive vessels," said the port CEO Phyllis Saathoff.



"The deepening of the Freeport Harbor Channel and the addition of this berth puts the port in position to receive the larger deeper-draft vessels in service today and propel the growth of commerce for existing and future customers."