2 container terminals to remain closed after ‘hardware failure’ at Port of Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Two public container terminals at Port of Houston will remain closed Wednesday after what officials said was a hardware failure.

The issues at the Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals were first reported Tuesday, just before the gates were set to open at about 7 a.m.

In a letter, Port of Houston executive director Roger Guenther explained that’s when they experienced a “major failure of the storage devices that support all applications used to operate” the terminals.

Although staff were able to get the terminals working again by 10 a.m. Tuesday, their backup procedures failed around two hours later.

Since then, the terminals have been inoperable.

Ships that were already in the loading and unloading process have been able to continue working, Guenther said. But new vessel starts have not been possible as the truck gates at both container facilities remain idle.

Guenther said in the letter that the port has the necessary hardware, but getting things back up and running is a different story. The configuration and restoration of all the components involved has been a slow process.

When the terminals resume operations, port officials plan to have daily extended gate hours including weekends, he added.

The Houston Ship Channel is a major artery for America’s oil, gas and chemical production.

It’s also the largest petrochemical complex in the country.

The 52-mile ship channel is comprised of more than 200 private and eight public terminals.

Guenther stressed that the issues had no impact on the greater ship channel, adding that the problem is confined to only the two public container terminals.

Guenther also emphasized the hardware failure was not due to a cyberattack.