Transportation: Any Port In A Storm
- From: "GWhyte" <gwhyte3003@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 03:57:03 -0400
Transportation
Any Port In A Storm
Robert Malone, 09.24.05, 10:30 AM ET
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http://www.forbes.com/home/logistics/2005/09/23/logistics-hurricane-transportation-cx_rm_0923ports.html
NEW YORK - When Hurricane Rita started bearing down on the Gulf Coast, the
movement of goods turned into a nightmare. And though the damage turned out
to be less than expected, the effects of the storm will linger.
New Orleans and Houston are major ports for petroleum, bulk and container
cargo. If each is disrupted for a protracted period, ships destined for them
and other smaller Gulf berths will either have to stand by somewhere or dock
at a facility as close to their destined port as possible. The available
ports in the area are Tampa, Jacksonville, Pensacola and Fort Everglades
(all in Florida), Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C.
When cargo needs to be redistributed, the American Association of Port
Authorities is the agency that handles it. Since Katrina, there's been
considerable readjustment of shipping destinations, with smaller ports
handling more cargo than usual. But many of these ports aren't equipped to
handle the massive docking that Houston and New Orleans do.
Houston ranks as the largest tanker-receiving port in the U.S., having more
than twice the volume of New Orleans, which is next in volume. Put together,
they handle more than 20% of all U.S. petroleum deliveries. Houston,
according to 2002 figures, processes nearly 3,000 tankers per year, and New
Orleans processes nearly half that many.
Petroleum needs to be downloaded as close to refining plants as possible or
the cost of logistics becomes insurmountable. The lack of a port for a
tanker leads to a reduction in crude for refining, and a breakdown in
refining leads to a cut in refined gas and diesel.
Companies like BP (nyse: BP - news - people ) and ConocoPhillips (nyse:
COP - news - people ) removed personnel from the affected area. Last week, a
BP spokesman said it will leave a hurricane management team in place, but
those workers don't process crude. They try to save the infrastructure.
Katrina, which temporarily closed nine refineries, cut U.S. oil supplies by
about 1.4 million barrels a day, or about 8% of the nation's total
production. Twenty-six refineries are in the expected path of the storm,
stretching about 300 miles from the Louisiana state line to Corpus Christi,
Tex. Between the shuttered refineries and ports, Americans will probably be
paying more at the pump.
Houston and New Orleans are also significant handlers of both containers and
bulk cargo--anything from autos to bananas to laptops. Fortunately, Florida
and Georgia ports are better equipped to take on both of these. But as with
petroleum, it's ideal if the ships can dock as close as possible to the
cargo's final destination. Meaning if Lockheed Martin (nyse: LMT - news -
people ) or Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) is expecting a shipment of
parts, they won't be getting it as soon as they'd like.
.
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