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The
History of the Port of Corpus Christi: 1926-2001
Originally
written by M. Harvey Weil in April 1986 and updated by the Port
Staff in January 1998
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History
of the Port
In speaking of the spitfire pilots who saved England from a Nazi
invasion during the 1940 Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill
said, "Never have so many owed so much to so few".
That statement
can be applied to the Port Commissioners who, in the 75 years
since the first Commission was appointed in 1923, have served
the Port of Corpus Christi. During this period of time there have
been only 23 Commissioners appointed.
Initially,
under the applicable law, there were only three Navigation Commissioners.
They were appointed each two years by the "Navigation Board",
a joint meeting of the Nueces County Commissioners Court and the
City Council of the City of Corpus Christi. In 1973, by a special
act of the Legislature, the number of Commissioners was increased
to five; all appointed each two years by the "Navigation Board"
as before. Another special act of the Legislature in 1983 increased
the number to seven. Of the seven, four are appointed by the Commissioners
Court and three by the City Council. Appointments are for staggered
three-year terms, with one to be appointed by each government
body every year and the County to appoint two each third year.
 All
Port Commissioners have served without pay and, over the years,
except for $5,300,00 in bonds paid through ad valorem taxes for
certain improvements, the Port has acquired and owns many millions
of dollars of Port facilities. In 1985 a bond issue of $25,000,000
was approved for Navy Homeport facilities. Except for the "Homeport"
tax bonds, all other tax bonds have been paid many years ago.
Although the
statutes under which the Navigation District was organized and
operates authorizes the voters to authorize a tax for operating
the Port and for maintaining its facilities and although many
Ports have such a tax, the citizens of Nueces County have never
asked for such authorization. Except for tax bonds issued to construct
facilities as above mentioned, the Port has been self-supporting.
Said another
way, Nueces County Navigation District No. 1 (now the Port of
Corpus Christi Authority of Nueces County, Texas) is unique in
Texas political history, not only because of the relatively few
in number of the Port Commissioners who have served over the 75
years of its life but because it has been self-supporting from
its inception. The District has never had a tax for operations.
It owns over 21,000 acres of land, of which approximately 16,000
acres is submerged land, 8 cargo docks an 11 oil docks worth millions
of dollars, and, except for the Homeport bonds, has only issued
$5,300,000 in tax bonds.
 Churchill's
statement about the Spitfire pilots may also be applied to the
management of the Port.
During the
70 years since the Port was opened, there have been only six persons
to serve as its principal manager, six to serve as its Engineer
(and one of these, Colonel Adams, at the same time served as Port
Director), six to serve as its Harbormaster, four to serve as
its outside counsel, and four to serve as its Internal Auditor
and Finance Director (the first of the auditors, a gentleman who
served for more than forty years, was John Barnes, father of former
Nueces County Judge, Robert N. Barnes).
The Port has
benefited greatly from the continuity of management which it has
had. Undoubtedly one of the principal reasons for the success
of the Port has been the continuity of its management - the Commissioners
appointed by the Commissioners Court and City Council - the Port
Directors, Engineers and Harbormasters employed by the Navigation
Commissioners - and the attorneys in outside firms appointed as
general counsel. The continuity in these positions has afforded
the Port the benefit of past experience in the areas which are
most important - overall management, engineering and legal matters.
 The Beginnings
In 1920, after local leaders had shown the need, the citizens
of Nueces County were able to get the Congress of the United States
to authorize the Corps of Engineers to study the feasibility of
the creation of a deep water port through the Aransas Pass, that
is, the jetties at Port Aransas. The study included the possibility
of locating the Port at Rockport, Aransas Pass, Port Aransas and
at Corpus Christi. Of the four possible locations, Corpus Christi
was selected. There were sound reasons for such selection.
In 1916 and
again in 1918, devastating hurricanes had struck the area. Port
Aransas, Rockport and Aransas Pass were low and had been heavily
inundated with storm tides. Also, the latter two were served by
only one railroad, the S.A.&A.P. (Subsequently known as the
Southern Pacific). Port Aransas had no railroad.
On the other
hand, Corpus Christi, with its bluff of 39 to 40 feet (which is
the highest point on tidewater between Veracruz and Miami) was
served by three railroads which included the Texas Mexican Railway,
The S.A.U.&G. (Subsequently known as the Union Pacific) and
the S.A.&AP Railroads.
The recommendation
as to the location originated in the Galveston office of the Corps
of Engineers but had to go to Washington through channels. It
was to be made by the District Engineer who at the time was Major
L. M. Adams. He later was promoted to Colonel and, upon retirement,
became Port Director at the Port of Corpus Christi. He served
in that capacity for 17 years from 1930 until 1947.
The study
to pick the site was made in the summer and fall of 1921. Roy
Miller, who has since been hailed as a port builder, was the Major.
In the fall of 1921, he was the first to learn of Major Adams'
recommendation. Mr. Richard King told the story this way:
"Roy
came to me and asked if I could arrange a hunt at the King Ranch.
I called Bob Kleberg and the hunt was arranged."
"The three
of us drove to the ranch. It was an extremely hot day in December.
Major Adams, the perfect Army officer at all times, came in uniform.
We drove around most of the day but it was extremely hot and no
bucks were sighted. Late in the afternoon, the ranch hand who
was driving the car told me, in Spanish, that because it was so
hot all the animals were up in the brush and that the only way
to get a deer was to walk into the brush."
"I relayed
this information to Colonel Adams who without hesitancy an even
though in uniform (necktie, jacket and all) went with the ranch
hand into the brush."
"Roy and I
waited in the car. After a substantial period of time we heard
a shot. After another waiting period, out of the brush came Major
Adams and the ranch hand dragging a nice buck. Major Adams' neat
uniform was askew. He had a slight thorn tear in his jacket but
was grinning from ear to ear.
"We were staying
in the bedrooms at the front on the second floor at Santa Gertrudis,
that is, the 'Big House'. Roy came to me and asked if I could
arrange for a bottle of whiskey. I did this. Roy took it with
him into Major Adams' room.
"Two or three
drinks later Roy came out of the room, came to my room, knocked
on the door, opened it and said, "We've got it!"
As a result
of the recommendation, a petition was circulated among taxpayers,
signed and presented to the Nueces County Commissioners Court
requesting that an election be called to create a navigation district
to be known as Nueces County Navigation District No. 1. The District
was to encompass all of Nueces County; that is, its boundaries
were to be coextensive with Nueces County. The petition also requested
that the Commissioners Court call an election to authorize the
issuance of $1,000,000 in tax bonds.
On November
13, 1922, following an election held on October 31, 1922, the
Commissioners Court counted the votes and entered its order creating
the Navigation District. The Port of Corpus Christi was born.
From the date
the Navigation District was created in 1922 to 1981, the name
of the District was Nueces County Navigation District No. 1, and
the Commissioners were designated as Navigation and Canal Commissioners.
They served on the Board of Navigation and Canal Commissioners.
On May 20, 1981, a special act of the Legislature became effective,
changing the name of the District to Port of Corpus Christi Authority
of Nueces County, Texas, the name of the Commissioners simply
to "Port Commissioners".
In 1923, the
U.S. Congress had authorized the Corps of Engineers to construct
a channel 25 feet in depth with 200 foot bottom width, from the
Gulf through the jetties at Port Aransas to a point on the shoreline
on Corpus Christi Bay at the mouth of a shallow bayou. Channel
dredging commenced in January 1925. It was completed in January
1926. The cost to the United States was $1,800,261.00.
Proceeds from
the sale of the $1,000,000 of bonds authorized when the District
was created were used to acquire land, to dredge the turning basin
and to construct the first docks. As the entrance channel cut
a small two-lane vehicle bridge over the bayou and the S.A.&AP
(later Southern Pacific) railroad trestle over the bayou, the
City of Corpus Christi participated by constructing the Bascule
Bridge. Commencing in 1932, the Navigation District took over
the expense of operation and ordinary maintenance of the bridge
until it was removed in 1960.
 On
September 14-15, 1926, there was an official "statewide" celebration
of the opening of the Port. At that time the three Navigation
Commissioners were Robert Driscoll, Chairman; John W. Kellam of
Robstown; and W.W. Jones.
In the early
days of the Port, cotton was king. Nueces County and surrounding
counties were among the State's leaders in cotton production.
The first business at the Port was on Port-owned land which was
franchised or leased for a cotton compress to the Aransas Compress
Company. It was located adjacent to and just behind Cargo Docks
1 and 2.
Near the end
of cotton season ships loading cotton (and also lead from the
Mexican smelters at Monterrey) were often docked two abreast.
There
were four cargo docks when the Port opened. The use of the Port
from its opening was so great that after only two years, in 1928,
the Port went to the people with an issue of an additional $1,500,000
in bonds to build two more cargo docks.
In 1930, the
channel was deepened to 30 foot depth conditioned that the Navigation
District provide a maneuvering basin inside the breakwater (for
maneuvering through the narrow Bascule Bridge). The District provided
the basin at its cost.
In 1930, the
first major industry came to Corpus Christi. It was a subsidiary
of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. called Southern Alkali Corporation.
A location at Avery Point about a mile and a half west of the
turning basin was chosen as the plant site. The company indicated
that it needed deep water. The Board of Navigation and Canal Commissioners
agreed to provide the mile and a half channel extension at its
own cost. It is referred to as the "Industrial Canal" and was
completed in 1933. As it was during the days of the "great depression",
in order to do the dredging the Commissioners borrowed from the
Public Works Administration and issued revenue notes to pay the
debt.
The original
turning basin was surrounded by a continuous levee to protect
it from the flooding on the Nueces River. The extension to Avery
Point to provide for Southern Alkali would require like protection.
It was at this time and to meet this need that an idea was conceived
which has been very beneficial to the development of the Port.
To carry out the idea, a bill was introduced in the Legislature
through W. E. Pope, who was Corpus Christi's sole representative,
authorizing the Commissioners of the General Land Office to sell
submerged lands and flats to navigation districts for $1.00 per
acre. This bill was adopted in 1930. Promptly thereafter the Navigation
District applied for and obtained a patent on a strip of land
extending from the shoreline of the land it owned at the turning
basin in the original harbor westward to the Tule Lake area for
which a channel had long been planned. The land applied for and
obtained was only that amount which was reasonably needed to provide
for the channel and dredged material disposal.
With the Navigation
District owning the submerged land, representatives of the Port
were able to approach owners of the land along the shore between
the turning basin and Avery Point and work out cross-conveyances
adjusting and straightening boundaries. The boundaries were fixed
at a "bulkhead line" which was delineated by the Navigation District
as a point beyond which no structures could be built. As the landowners
were to be cut off from water with their riparian or littoral
rights impeded, the transaction involved a conveyance by the District
to the landowner of all submerged land between the bulkhead line.
The conveyances were subject to a covenant or condition running
with the land to the effect that the landowner would apply to
the Navigation District for a franchise to construct any dock
or bulkhead, which would be granted by the Navigation District
on the same terms it granted others, and that for any shipments
of cargo across the bulkhead line the owner would pay to the Navigation
District one-half of the District's then current published tariff
wharfage charge for such cargo.
Because the
District owned the submerged land, the deposit of dredged material
to provide for the levees on the north side of the channel resulted
in emergent or filled land which is owned by the District. Such
land has become the source of substantial revenues from leases
and also as sites for additional wharves and docks. The Port's
own grain elevator is on such land.
Although the
Commissioners of the General Land Office took the position that
all a navigation district had to do was to apply for submerged
land and show that it was a navigation district to be entitled
to a patent, Nueces County Navigation District No. 1 never applied
for any land other than that which was reasonably needed for its
channels and dredged material levees.
 In
the early 1930's, large oil fields were discovered in San Patricio,
Nueces Counties and neighboring counties. In fact, at one time
it was estimated that there were 3,760 wells in 89 fields, within
a radius of 125 miles from the Port. The need for shipment of
this oil caused the Navigation District to get into the construction
of oil docks.
Refineries
began to locate along the Port. The Taylor Refining Company was
the first in 1934. Oil docks were constructed on the dredged material
levee on the north of the Industrial Canal and also at the Avery
Point Turning Basin. Private oil docks were also constructed at
the refineries along the Industrial Canal under the cross-conveyances
which entitled the Navigation district to receive one-half of
the published tariff wharfage from the private docks. From the
mid-1930's, the major portion of the tonnage moved through the
Port shifted from cotton to petroleum and petroleum products.
In 1947, Corn
Products approached the Navigation District with a proposal that
it would acquire land and announce the construction of the Corn
Products Refining Company plant at its location approximately
three miles westward of Avery Point, provided a barge depth channel
was dredged to the site. This was agreed upon and the Navigation
District, with its own funds, constructed a channel which was
18 feet in depth and 125 feet in width, the same as the Intracoastal
Canal. It was on the alignment of the deep channel which had been
planned to Tule Lake. This required the acquisition from the State
of another small track of submerged land as the channel was swung
northward a bit to get around the existing District's oil docks
at the Avery Point Turning Basin. The commitment to Corn Products
was for a channel equivalent to the Intracoastal Canal, that is,
12 foot depth with 125 foot bottom width. To obtain sufficient
material for the protective levee, the channel was dredged to
a depth of about 18 feet.
In 1947, the
Coastal Bend area had become known for its grain sorghum production.
This is why Corn Products Refining Company located its plant in
Corpus Christi, that is, to make sugar, syrups and starch from
sorghum grains.
Farmers in
the area were being paid a price for their grain based on the
price at an export elevator, the nearest of which were in Galveston
and Houston. This resulted in the price to the area farmers being
reduced by the freight cost to Houston or Galveston. This was
a substantial differential and there was need for an elevator
at Corpus Christi. In order that no one grain company might control
the export shipments through its own elevator, there was need
for the elevator to be publicly owned. The Port was approached
to provide it.
 The
Port engaged a bond consultant, M. E. Allison, of San Antonio,
to ascertain if an export-type elevator could be constructed and
financed solely from revenues produced by the grain elevator itself.
Mr. Allison went to Chicago, where the grain trade was known,
and was advised to employ a Chicago engineering firm to make a
study. That firm's study indicated that the Port should have a
grain elevator with 2,000,000 bushel capacity, that the Port should
be able to handle annually through the elevator two or more times
its capacity, that is, at least 4,000,000 bushels per year, and
that based on the estimated cost of a 2,000,000 bushel elevator
and 4,000,000 bushels of shipments, $3,250,000 in bonds payable
solely from earnings of the elevator would pay out. Based upon
these estimates, an order was given to an engineering firm to
draw plans and specifications. Between the time the order for
the plans and specifications was given and the time the plans
and specifications were completed, the Korean conflict had begun.
It was in mid-year 1950. Bids for the 2,000,000 bushel elevator
were taken late that year. As a result of tremendously escalating
costs resulting from the Korean conflict, the cost of the same
elevator was up almost $1,000,000 over the estimates.
 As
the commitment for the revenue bonds was in an amount on the earlier
estimate of costs, additional funds had to be provided. To provide
such funds, the Port issued $750,000 in bonds to be paid from
its general revenues and put an additional $390,000 in cash.
The grain
elevator was extremely successful. Constructed in 1952 and opened
in 1953, by 1959 it needed enlargement. An additional $1,300,000
of revenue bonds, again to be paid solely from the elevator's
earnings, were issued. Its success continued and in 1961, again
to enlarge the elevator, an additional $1,600,000 of revenue bonds
to be paid solely from the elevator's earnings were issued.
All the grain
elevator revenue bonds were redeemed and canceled from its earnings
prior to their maturity.
On July 27,
1968, during an early morning thunderstorm when the grain elevator
was not working, there was an explosion at the elevator. Lightning
struck a bank of transformers on the street alongside the headhouse.
It appeared that the thunder clap from lightning blast shook the
headhouse, creating a cloud of grain dust inside which was ignited
by sparks from shorts in the electrical circuits. The resulting
explosion damaged only the headhouse. The only person inside the
elevator at the time was a night watchman who, unfortunately,
later died from his burns. The grain elevator was repaired and
back in operation in 1969.
On April 7,
1981, in the afternoon when the elevator was working, there was
another explosion at the elevator which resulted in extensive
damage and several deaths and injuries. Various theories as to
the cause resulted in much litigation. The reconstruction was
completed in 1983 and the elevator was dedicated as the William
E. Carl Terminal.
In 1951, Reynolds
Metal Company announced its intention to construct an aluminum
reduction plant on the north side of Corpus Christi Bay at La
Quinta. Its plan was to dredge, at its expense, a channel straight
into the plant site from the ship channel. Such a route was the
least expensive because it was through the deep water until it
neared the shoreline. As this would not develop other plant sites
along the north shore of the bay, the Navigation District negotiated
an agreement with Reynolds that the District would pay the difference
between the cost of digging the channel Reynolds had planned and
the cost of a channel through Ingleside Peninsula and along the
shoreline to a turning basin to be constructed at La Quinta. This,
of course, would go through shallow water all the way and was
more expensive. The additional cost was $475,000. As the Navigation
District would not issue general revenue bonds, having issued
the $750,000 of extra bonds for the grain elevator shortly before
that date, the District submitted a $475,000 tax bond issue to
the citizens of Nueces County. The citizens approved it.
Again, the
Navigation District applied for and obtained a patent to the submerged
land extending about 2,500 feet from the shore along the shoreline
past La Quinta to a point near the causeway. It went beyond La
Quinta because it was anticipated that there might be industry
to the west of La Quinta or that the channel might go into Nueces
Bay. This land provided the levee which protects the channel.
 In
1930, only four years after the Port opened, the ship channel
from the Gulf to Corpus Christi and the turning basin was deepened
from 25 feet to 30 feet. It was again deepened to 32 feet in 1936
to and including the turning basin. These deepenings were Federal
projects. The District with its own funds deepened it to 32 feet
for the 1-1/2 miles to Southern Alkali and the Avery Turning Basin.
Authorization
for the extension of the channel to the Tule Lake had been obtained
in 1938. The Federal Government finally completed the dredging
of it in 1958.
In 1939, the
main turning basin was extended 1/2 miles to the westward. In
1952, the channel across the bay was widened form 200 to 400 feet.
In order to protect the channel across the bay when the government
widened it, the Navigation District applied for and obtained a
patent extending 2500 feet on either side of the centerline of
the channel, extending from the City of Corpus Christi's patent
in Corpus Christi Bay (at a point just outside the breakwater)
to a point off Cline's Point at Port Aransas, narrowing, of course,
at places where the centerline was nearer than 2,500 feet from
the shore.
 Thereafter,
in 1958, Suntide Refining Company, which was located west of the
Tule Lake Basin and had pipelines extending to the oil docks of
the District at Avery Point approached the District for extension
of the channel through lands of the Driscoll Foundation with the
construction of a turning basin at Viola and District-owned oil
docks there. Based upon a contract with Suntide to pay a designated
minimum amount of wharfage for products moving over the docks,
the Navigation District issued revenue bonds, payable solely from
the wharfage paid by Suntide, sufficient to dredge the channel
and the turning basin and build the docks which was completed
in 1959. Although the bonds were issued for a term of 20 years,
they had accrued sufficient revenues that they were redeemed and
canceled as of January 1, 1978. All of the land along this channel
is subject to agreements to pay half wharfage.
In 1970, Hurricane
Celia badly damaged the Aransas Compress which was a private compress
located at the Port of Corpus Christi. As earlier noted, it was
the first facility built at the Port after it opened. As a result
of the damage, the owners planned to shut it down unless it could
be sold. The District determined that it needed a public compress
rather than have the compress shut down. In 1971, the Navigation
District issued $1,200,000 in revenue bonds, to be paid solely
from earnings of the compress, to purchase and put the compress
in operation.
Again, in
1980, another $1,750,000 of similar revenue bonds were issued
to enlarge and extend the facility which is now called the Corpus
Christi Public Compress. All of the bonds from these two issues
were purchased by banks in Corpus Christi and other cities in
Nueces County. The banks recognized the need for the facility
and evidenced confidence in the District.
Although the
Compress was owned by the District, the provisions of the bonds
require (as the grain elevator bonds did when they were outstanding
and unpaid) that the management would be vested in a Board of
Trustees of businessmen. The compress was operated by a Board
of Trustees until 1996 when all of its debt was paid off and its
operational control reverted to the Port Commission.
There is always
a long period of time between the Federal authorization of a project
and its accomplishment. To illustrate, the dredging of the 34
foot deep channel and Tule Lake Turning Basin was authorized in
1938 by House Document No. 574. The channel was dredged and completed
in 1958. This lag time was also true of the authorization to deepen
the channel to 45 feet from the Gulf to Viola. This project was
finally completed in 1989 and gave Corpus Christi the deepest
waterway of any port on the Gulf of Mexico at that time. The authorization
was approved by Congress in 1968. Finally, in 1973, dredging was
started on the first section extending from the Gulf to the Ingleside
cutoff to La Quinta. In 1975, dredging was commenced to get 45
foot depth to La Quinta. In 1978, dredging was started to extend
the depth from La Quinta to a point about one mile outside the
breakwater at Corpus Christi. Thereafter there was a substantial
delay as a result of environmental concerns but, in 1985, dredging
was commenced on the Inner Harbor and completed four years later.
 No
history of the Port would be complete without some detail of the
Bascule Bridge and the removal of the "Bascule Bridge Bottleneck".
When the Port was constructed in 1925, there was a small bayou
at the entrance which was crossed by a two-lane highway bridge
and the railroad bridge of the S.A & AP Railway (Southern
Pacific).
To permit
the passage of large ships, a Bascule bridge was erected which
had about 100 feet of horizontal width and 14 feet of vertical
height above the water. This was adequate to handle the ships
which were in use at that time. Fenders and timbers to protect
the structures on the inside reduced it to about 98 feet in horizontal
width. Of course, the bridge was "OPENED" when a ship approached.
By the 1950's
the volume of both ship and vehicular traffic had increased to
such extent that there was an urgent need to break the "Bascule
Bridge Bottleneck". A substantial portions of the raising of the
bridge and the resultant stopping of vehicular and rail traffic
was because of tugboats and other small craft entering the harbor.
Elevating the bridge to approximately 50 feet would have corrected
this. However, it still would not have provided, as was needed,
an unobstructed way for ship, rail and vehicle movements. The
Area Development Committee worked on this. The problem was finally
solved, first with a plan to dig a tunnel and then later the Highway
Department agreed to build the high bridge. The railroads were
rerouted with the Southern Pacific using the Union Pacific's tracks
from Sinton into a joint yard with the Texas Mexican Railroad
on State Highway No. 44, near the airport. Also, part of the plan
was the construction of the Upper Harbor Lift Bridge, a high lift
bridge with two vehicle lanes and one railroad track. Belt line
railway service is needed to serve port industries on the north
side of the channel. The Interchange Yard is on Navigation District
land on the north side of the channel near the lift bridge. This
is on land which, prior to being filled, was submerged land patented
by the State.
 Again,
a history of the Port should also mention that the Port itself
is served by the belt line railroad around the Port properties.
The track
is owned by the Navigation District but is operated by the three
operating railroads, each of whom take turns in operating the
switching through a Terminal Association. The District participates
in the Terminal Association to some extent.
In 1985, the
Port of Corpus Christi was designated as a Foreign Trade Zone
and in 1986, the agreements were entered into with the first two
Users. The Ports Foreign Trade Zone has sub-zones which include
portions of the facilities of most of the refineries near the
Port of Corpus Christi.
In 1985, the
various seaports along the Gulf were competing for designation
as the Homeport for the Navy's battle action group to be stationed
in the Gulf. The Port Authority submitted to the citizens of Nueces
County and they approved an issue of $25,000,000 in ad valorem
tax bonds to provide land and facilities for the Homeport Project
should the area be so designated. The State of Texas also authorized
an expenditure of $25,000,000 from certain of its finds to be
used for such a project if it was designated to be in Texas. Of
the several sites suggested to the Navy, a site on the channel
at Ingleside was selected and designated.
The late 80s
and early 90s brought a new effort to the Port of Corpus Christi
. . . DIVERSIFICATION.
 The
diversification effort's aim was to enhance the economic foundation
of the Port by attracting new cargoes, including: steel products,
project cargoes, refrigerated cargoes, military equipment cargo,
cruise ships, forest products, automobiles, containers, and more.
In late 2000, two of the port's diversification efforts became
a reality. Renovations to the Southside and Northside General
Cargo Terminals made the Port of Corpus Christi an ideal location
to handle a diverse array of cargoes.
On the Northside
of the Channel, the Port constructed a 100,000 square foot refrigerated
warehouse that is operated by Berkshire Cold Storage of Chicago
at a cost of $11 million. Together, the Port and Berkshire target
the import/export markets in Latin America, Mexico, United States,
Europe, Africa, and Russia.
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On
the Southside of the Channel, the Port also invested $6 million
to renovate Cargo Dock 1 and 2 into a multi-purpose cruise terminal/
meeting & banquet facility. This facility named in honor of Congressman
Solomon P. Ortiz for his continued support of the port and its
efforts, is capable of accommodating numerous events and meetings.
Ultimately, this facility will be used for passengers embarking/
disembarking on cruise ships to destinations in Mexico and Caribbean.