Vessel queue grows outside Houston Ship Channel

OREANDA-NEWS. A brief break in the fog allowed two vessels to depart from the Enterprise Products Partners LPG export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, but the growing queue of oil and gas tankers waiting in the anchorage waters offshore from Galveston, Texas, will likely be restricted from an afternoon entry to the channel.

More than 70 vessels are now waiting in anchorage for the signal to enter the Houston Ship Channel, which has been largely closed to inbound traffic since 2:37am ET on 1 March. The channel opened for a brief window yesterday afternoon, but outbound shipments are prioritized after an extended closure at the Houston Ship Channel bar.

Outbound traffic has been intermittent since the afternoon of 2 March, with three vessels that last loaded at Enterprise's LPG export terminal departing for their respective destinations, including the VLGC Gaz Supplier, which began moving outbound this afternoon.

The channel was expected to reopen for full inbound and outbound operations later today, but late afternoon fog led the Houston Pilots to leave inbound traffic shuttered.