The Captain of the Port (COTP) Houston-Galveston has rescinded Port Conditions, effective 1000 on Thursday, July 11, 2024, for the ports of Houston, Texas City, Galveston, and Freeport, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from the Colorado Locks going east to High Island Bridge. The COTP is working with coordinating agencies to complete surveys to verify the condition of the waterways. Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) currently has degraded communications at 3 of 5 sites, AIS (all off line, back-up only online), and 1 of 3 operational radars.

All ports and waterways within the Houston-Galveston COTP Zone are OPEN with the following conditions:

VTS directives are as following:
• The Port of Galveston is open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 35 feet or less. Changes in this restriction will be posted via VTS.
• The Port of Texas City is open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 30 feet or less. Changes in this restriction will be posted via VTS.
• The upper Houston Ship Channel from Buffalo Bayou turning basin to Lynchburg is open for barge traffic one way only inbound during the time of 0600 to 1200 and 1800 to midnight with normal VTS check-in. Changes in this restriction will be posted via VTS.
• The upper Houston Ship Channel from Buffalo Bayou turning basin to Lynchburg is open for barge traffic one way only outbound during the times of 1200 to 1800 and midnight to 0600 with normal VTS check-in. Changes in this restriction will be posted via VTS.
• VTS Houston-Galveston will continue to meter traffic within the VTS area until VTS primary equipment is
returned to normal operations, and throughout continued port assessments and recovery.

Waterways Management Safety Zone- Port of Freeport:
• The Port of Freeport is open to commercial vessels with a draft restriction of 36 feet or less. Arrivals and
Departures of Piloted vessels are restricted to daylight only. Changes in this restriction will be posted via future MSIB.

Facilities:
• Facilities listed on the Sector Houston-Galveston Homeport Facility Inspections Assessment Summary will work with Facilities Department to resume over the water operations.

The COTP Houston-Galveston continues to work closely with coordinating agencies to include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lift vessel restrictions listed above.

This MSIB supersedes MSIB 22-24. All mariners are reminded to use extreme caution when transiting waterways in Southeast Texas as debris and hazards resulting from Hurricane BERYL may be present. All hazards are requested to be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Command Duty Officer at (866) 539-8114 if you have any questions or comments. This bulletin is the final bulletin for Hurricane Beryl.

Keith M. Donohue
Captain, United States Coast Guard
Captain of the Port