Welcome Aboard is a quarterly publication by the Port of Beaumont for the community of Southeast Texas. You can obtain the expanded, print version of this publication by writing to the Port, or you can download the PDF version of the expanded publication (1219k).

A new executive director is steering a steady course for the Port of Beaumont. Donald R. Allee, former director of trade development for Port Freeport, Freeport, Texas, dropped anchor in Beaumont July 10. He succeeds Bill Masters, who retired July 31 after 14 years at the helm. The Board of Commissioners selected Allee for the position from a field of six finalists. Board President Bill Kimbrough said commissioners chose Allee because of his experience in bringing in new business. “His expertise in international marketing and steamship operations is what we need,” said Kimbrough. That expertise comes from a 20-year career in marine transportation which began in 1973, when Allee was appointed regional manager for Trans Freight Line in Houston. At Trans Freight Line, Allee became the top revenue producer in a five-state region. From 1981 through 1985, Allee served as sales and administrative manager for SCOA Inc. in Houston. There he managed a regional steamship agency office serving carriers in Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. He expanded that company’s U.S. Southwest territory market share from 1% to 24% in less than four years. In 1985, Allee was appointed director of trade development for the Port of Houston Authority, supervising a staff of 40 in three locations. Under his direction, trade development experienced a 50% growth from 1988 to 1993. From 1993 to 1995, Allee directed marketing for Americas Marine Express, a breakbulk and container carrier based in Memphis. In 1995, He was appointed director of trade development for Port Freeport, the No. 2 container port in Texas. Allee said he was attracted to the Port of Beaumont by the enthusiasm of its commissioners and community support for growth. (see “From the Director,” back page) Allee was educated in Houston public schools. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, a transport marketing certificate from Northwestern University and a graduate management certificate from Rice University. The port’s new executive director has completed the executive management training conference of the American Association of Port Authorities and serves as chairman of the commerce committee of the Gulf Ports Association of the Americas.

Construction crews are now in the final phase of port improvements approved by voters in 1997. Work on the largest project, an $11 million extension to Harbor Island Wharf, should be completed in Spring, 2001. Work consists of constructing a new 680-foot extension to the wharf and linking railroad tracks on the new wharf apron to existing tracks. When finished, Harbor Island terminal will boast a continuous wharf 1,880 feet long. This project will provide a much-needed additional cargo berth and will help relieve berth congestion at Harbor Island, which is being used increasingly for forest products, steel and military cargo. In Orange County, preparations have been made for future development of general cargo wharf facilities. Construction crews have completed roadway and railroad access to the port’s waterfront property on the east bank of the Neches River. Sheet piling is being driven to construct the first 650 feet of bulkhead. $1.5 million in improvements are the initial step toward developing 4,300 linear feet of port owned waterfront property in Orange County.

The Port of Beaumont’s newly refurbished grain elevator has already gone down in the record books. In July, the elevator loaded the largest cargo in the port’s history, a record 80,000 tons of wheat. This summer, the port completed a $10 million upgrade to its grain elevator with installation of computer controls for new equipment. Improvements will boost the receiving capacity of the elevator by 60 percent, from 25,000 to 40,000 bushels per hour. Early in 2000, the Louis Dreyfus Corporation assumed lease of the facility returning it to full operation. Louis Dreyfus Corp. is a worldwide trading and merchandising firm based in Wilton, CT. Port officials expect the elevator to handle at least 50 million bushels of grain this year or 1 1/2 million tons of cargo. That cargo is expected to generate 6,000 man-hours for the longshore labor force, with an annual economic impact of some $17 million.

In July, port commissioners paid special tribute to the man who helped build the Port of Beaumont. Commissioners named their meeting room in honor of first president Ray A. Coale. His formal portrait now hangs outside the boardroom. Coale became the port board’s first president in 1949 when former Southeast Texas Congressman Jack Brooks wrote legislation creating the Port of Beaumont Navigation District. Coale headed the board until 1973. During dedication of the Ray Coale boardroom, Port Commissioner Henry Nix credited the first president with ‘basically building this port.’ Nix said accomplishments during Coale’s tenure included reconstruction of the port’s main docks and warehouses, construction of the Harbor Island wharf, con-struction of the Carroll Street shed and wharf, and construction of the grain elevator. “I mention these things because Mr. Coale played a major part in all of it,” Nix said. Ray Coale died this past December shortly after celebrating his 100th birthday. Coale’s daughter, Carmen Coale Tyrrell, who spoke at the tribute, said her father brought energy and enthusiasm to the job.

A completed Franklin Street project has paved the way for a direct link between the Port of Beaumont’s main gate, at Main and Franklin, to MLK Parkway and onward to Interstate 10. Franklin Street was rebuilt under a joint city-federal matching share program. The project cost close to $2 million. The thoroughfare is now a heavy duty ‘collector’ consisting of three 12-foot lanes along with continuous turn lanes. The Franklin Street project grew out of discussions in the 1990’s between the port, City of Beaumont, Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission and Texas Department of Transportation, as a way to re-direct port traffic away from the downtown area.

For the second year, the port has backed the ‘Learn to Read’ literacy initiative by funding books for students at our nearest neighborhood school, Dunbar Elementary. Personalized primers encourage first and second graders to read because they see their names in print and are part of the plot. The ‘Learn to Read’ agenda is one of many community and school outreach programs sup-ported by the Port of Beaumont. Employees donate their time and talents to ‘Choices’, a program that presents career and education alternatives to high school students; Region V Education Center’s annual Career Fair, high school career days, and the annual tree-trimming event sponsored by downtown merchants In an effort to educate future generations about the ‘business’ of transportation and the role it plays in our communities, every year, port employees give guided tours to thousands of Southeast Texas students.

The Port of Beaumont was again the gateway for a German Army Desert Training Exercise in Fort Bliss, near El Paso. The port handled transportation of 100 vehicles, including 27 tanks and 28 containers, for the German Armed Forces Command. The hardware was delivered to Fort Bliss, near El Paso, where it joined a contingent of 300 German soldiers for two weeks of desert training. Since its reunification as one nation in 1990, German soldiers have served as NATO peacekeepers worldwide. By January, the soldiers who trained in Fort Bliss will be deployed in Bosnia for six months of peacekeeping duties.

Former Port Director Bill Masters presents a plaque of appreciation to Walter Spieker, second from left, in the office of the German Armed Forces Command in Washington, D.C. Also pictured are LTC Reinhart Benke, left, and LCDR Rolf Guenther, right, of the German Armed Forces Command, Traffic and Transportation Division. Before his July retirement, former Port Director Bill Masters journeyed to Washington, D.C. to personally commend agents of the German Armed Forces for employing the Port of Beaumont. For several years, the port has handled transportation of equipment for the German Armed Forces Command in support of Operation Roving Sands, a multi-national desert military exercise. In March, Masters presented an award of appreciation to Walter Spieker, president of Trans-Atlantic Agencies, Inc. of Baltimore, the general agent in the United States for the German Armed Forces Sea Transport Command. The inscription on the Texas-shaped plaque thanked Spieker for his “friendship and support of the Port of Beaumont.”

The Port of Beaumont welcomed the world’s newest and fastest heavy lift carrier during her maiden voyage recently. M.V. Grietje called at the port to discharge a cargo of steam generators. On hand for the traditional maiden voyage ceremony were representatives of the port, stevedore and the ship’s owners, SAL. Completed this year in the German shipyard J.J. Sietas, the Grietje is - at a speed of 22 1/2 knots - the fastest heavy lift ship in the world. The ship is 150 meters long and equipped with two 320 metric ton cranes and one 200 metric ton crane.

After a career spanning 35 years with the Port of Beaumont and 41 years on the Beaumont waterfront, Port Director Bill Masters announced his retirement this year. During his tenure, Masters presided over the largest expansion in the port’s history and directed a major cargo diversification program that resulted in tremendous growth of port tonnage. Masters’ career at the port began in 1965 as assistant dock superintendent. Over the next three decades, the East Texan worked his way through the ranks of port administration, serving as dock superintendent, manager of marine terminals, deputy port director, secretary-treasurer to the board of commissioners and executive managing director before being appointed port director in 1986. In 1991, Master’s peers recognized his leadership and contributions to the maritime industry by electing him president of both the Gulf Ports Association and the Texas Ports Association. In 1999, Masters was re-elected to the board of directors of the American Association of Port Authorities, the industry trade association that represents 160 public ports in the United States, Canada and Latin America. In July, well wishers, including state and community leaders, gathered at a retirement reception to say Bon Voyage to the man who directed the port for the past 14 years.

Tipping the scales at nearly 3 million pounds, a reactor bound for ExxonMobil Corp.’s Beaumont refinery, is the heaviest piece of equipment ever handled by the Port of Beaumont. The 131-foot long pressure vessel docked in Beaumont following a 23-day voyage. It took Fagioli USA Inc., the company that designed and executed the delivery from an Italian manufacturer, a year to plan the discharge and two hours to actually move the reactor off the m.v. Clipper Cheyenne. A 32-axle, 56-wheeled modular transporter was used to transport the hydrocracker reactor through the port terminal. At ExxonMobil, the pressure vessel will prepare an existing unit to help make cleaner fuels. Refinery spokesperson Kathleen Jackson said the Port of Beaumont’s ability to receive the reactor is helping to keep the refinery competitive.

How do you summarize a 41-year career in just a paragraph or two? In reflecting on my four decades on the Beaumont waterfront, a few things stand out. One is the port’s amazing growth — both in terms of cargo tonnage and in real estate. Since I came to work for the port, our tonnage more than doubled, from around two million tons a year in the early 1960’s to an average of four million tons in the ‘90’s — and we expect to hit the five million ton mark by 2002! Our facilities gave grown too; we’ve added more than 27 acres in property in the last 15 years. Throughout my career, I have seen a con-stant effort to develop and diversify our port facilities to meet the changing demands of the world economy. As a wise man once said, “The only thing constant is change.” No truer words can be said of the port industry. When I started working on the docks, the port had a great deal of liner service. Ships in the range of 400 or 500 feet long were about average, and they would call at the port for as little as a few hundred tons of cargo. Over the years, we have seen the number of vessel calls per year decrease, but the ships that call at Beaumont are staying longer, loading or discharging more cargo, and are bigger. These days, it is not unusual for a ship to be 700 to 900 feet long (or more)! The port has responded to these changes with new, modern and expanded wharves, docks and cargo-handling equipment. By all measures, the Port of Beaumont has certainly been successful — and the reasons for our success are many: we are blessed with a supportive community, an aggressive, responsible board of commissioners, a dedicated, hard-working staff and loyal customers. It is rare when a person can spend his career doing a job he really enjoys, and that has certainly been the case with me. As I see my days at the port drawing to a close, I feel a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that I was present during an important time in the history of the Port of Beaumont. It has certainly been a rewarding and challenging 41 years on the waterfront, and I want to say “Thank You” to our customers, commissioners, employees and the public for their support and assistance over the years.

Since making the move to Beaumont in July, it has become quite apparent that the Port of Beaumont has enjoyed a long tradition of exemplary leadership. Ray Coale, the port’s first president, established this tradition with a fervor a half century ago. My predecessor, Bill Masters, who has made my transition pleasant and productive, guided this facility into the new millennium with the same dedication. I am deeply honored that the Board of Commissioners selected me to follow in such large footsteps, and I am challenged by future growth opportunities. The Port of Beaumont has always had the reputation of being an efficient, productive port with an abundance of first-rate facilities. As I step into the position of executive director, I see a number of positive developments that will help ensure our success well into the future. Thanks to the foresight of the port’s former director and its commissioners, the Port of Beaumont has taken a leadership role in pledging funding for the study of improvements to the SabineNeches Ship Channel. As you know, the five-year study by the Corps of Engineers will affect the future of international trade through the next century. I look forward to the challenges of this new job, in large part, because of the support shown by citizens of Beaumont and the Southeast Texas business community for future port growth. That support was exemplified in 1997 when voters approved the port’s $27 million bond package for improvements by a margin of 2-1. In the very near future, we will celebrate completion of the Harbor Island Wharf extension and East Bank property development, projects that will contribute to the economic vitality of Southeast Texas for decades to come. With your continued support, the Port of Beaumont has an unlimited potential for attracting new commerce and new jobs.