b"MARCH 22 - APRIL 4, 2021GULF COAST PORTS15The Port of Corpus Christi, a crude oil and liquefied natural gas exporter, strives to be Americas Energy Port. A newly launched cross-Gulf container-on-barge service offers a weekly link (ADVERSITIEScontin- tive option to trucking, withing movements of steel, windbetween the Port of Brownsville and Floridas Port Tampa Bay.ued from page 13) thecross-Gulfofferingtoenergy components, grain and(LAUNCHEScontinuedmentalfootprint.Infact, 66 Gray Oak Pipeline. PortTampaBayefficientlypetroleum-basedproducts.from page 6) comparedwithatraditional linking the Rio Grande ValleyTheBrownsvilleNavigationoffercustomers,saysCGRall-rail route from Mobile to P ort ofC orPusC hristi of Texas plus Mexican indus- Districts Brownsville & RioPresidentHoffmanLijeron.Mexico City, shipping via the The Port of Corpus Christi,trial centers with Florida andGrande International Railway,Theircapacity,efficientnew CGR vessels and Ferro-withextensivefacilitiesforthe U.S. Southeast. managedbyOmniTRAXhulldesign,articulatedrud- mex is expected to provide a exportofcrudeoilandliq- At the same time, the PortInc., handled a record 51,115ders and modern, slow-speed44% reduction in CO2 emis-uefied natural gas, as well asof Brownsvilles rail activity isloaded railcars in 2020, up 24engineswillsignificantlysions per ton/mile versus the threemajorrefineriesinitstrending upward, with grow- percent from 2019. reducethevesselsenviron- all-rail route.region, is continuing to strive tobeAmericasEnergy Port, including as a hub ser-vicingtheMexicanmarket that lies as near as 2 hours to itssouth.Incalendar2020, theporthandledarecord 159.7 million tons of cargo, up 31 percent from 2019.While the separate efforts to deliver main channel depths ofasmanyas54feetanda higher-clearancebridgeover the Inner Harbor entrance are proceeding, the port is advanc-ing multiple projects to enhance on-port infrastructure. Bulk Dock 3, formerly used to handle dry bulk cargos, is being reconfigured to accom-modateliquidbulkbarges; aLiebherr550LPSrail-mounted crane has been added atBulkDock1,supporting discharge of barite, pig iron, metallurgiccoke,aggregate and other dry bulk commodi-ties; and 40-plus acres of open storage capacity has been sta- THE GATEWAY bilizedattheportsRincon IndustrialPark,wheremore than11,000feetofnewrail track have been constructed. TO THE GULFP ort ofb rownsvilleJustnorthoftheU.S.-Mexicoborder,thePortof Brownsvilleislookingto reclaim its status as a majorBuilt for breakbulk and beyond.exporter of agricultural prod-ucts after October receipt ofThe Port of Corpus Christi is the nations #1 crude export a $14.5 million U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation grantgateway, providing more advantages for the movement toimproveefficiencyand safety of its grain storage andof breakbulk and heavy lift cargo, including dockside rail loadingfacilities,includingloading and truck transfer, a 47' channel, dredging to 54', the3-million-bushelcapac-itygrainelevatoroperatedthree Class I rail carriers and a skilled labor force. by WestPlainsLLC. Aftera 13-year pause in Brownsville grain exports, the port moved 175,000metrictonsofsor-ghum to China in 2020.Anothermajor2020 developmentatthePortof Brownsvillewasinitiation inDecemberofWorkCats weeklycontainer-on-bargeConnect with us: portofcc.comservice, providing a competi-"