T OF HOU

January, 1964

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"MAY 1964 BE YOUR BEST YEAR"J

Offices: HOUSTON" 1519 Capitol Avenue;

NEW YORK CITY" 25 Broadway;

CHICAGO" Board of Trade Bldg.

Always Specify the

RT 0 HOUSTON2 PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

At The Port of Houston

MANCHESTER OFFERSComplete Warehousing-Berthing Facilities

Manchester Terminal pro-

vides complete water-rail-

truck handling of cotton and

all types of general cargo.

Manchester’s modern plant features:

¯ Wharfside storage facilities

¯ Large outdoor storage area

¯ High-density cotton compresses

¯ Automatic sprinkler system

¯ Rapid truck loading-unloading facilities

¯ Modern handling methods and equipment

For comp/ete cargo-handling service, use Mancnester terminal

Manchester Terminal Corporation Houston 1, Texase. O. Box 2576 General Office CA 7-3296 Terminal WA 6-9631

JANUARY, 1964 3

USS LE GTON

SERVICES FROM HOUSTOIIand other Gulf ports

INDIA SERVICEKarachi ¯ Bombay ̄ Colombo ¯ Madras

Calcutta ¯ RangoonAlso calls Mediterranean and Red Sea ports

PERSIAN GULF SERVICEDammam ¯ Kuwait ¯ Basrah ̄ Khorramshahr

Bandar Shahpour ¯ Abadan ̄ BahreinAlso calls Mediterranean and Red Sea ports

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SERVICE*Honolulu ¯ Port Allen ¯ Nawiliwili

Hilo ¯ Kahului

"lsthmian.Matson Joint Service

World Wide Cargo Services fromAll Coasts of the United States

... re,~ular/y /o FAR EAST ¯ MEDITERRANEAN

NORTH EUROPE ¯ UNITED KINGDOM

also GREAT LAKES--EUROPE SERVICEGREAT LAKES--FAR EAST SERVICE

4 PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

More New MetallicBuildings in theHouston Area

These are four of the many buildings recentlycompleted by Metallic in the Houston area.There are other Metallic buildings being erectedin this area every day. There are thousandsof satisfied Metallic customers here whoknow that Metallic builds best.

These buildings have many things in common.They are modern, attractive, completely func-tional and they are economical. They are builtby Metallic, the firm that has more experience,and more real knowledge and dependabilityin this field than any one else. These buildingsgot their owners in business fast--weeks,sometimes months, faster than othertypes of construction.

If you need a building--from 36 square feet to250,000 square feet and want the best money canbuy, call Metallic. You’ll get a building tailoredto your specific needs; eye-catching appeal onthe outside; an interior where all the spaceis usable; a choice of 10 beautiful, factorybaked-on colors for wall and roof panels. Andmost of all, you’ll be dealing with a dependable,respected company that’s been in business herefor 18 years. Investigate all the facts beforeyou buy, and you’ll buy a Metallic building.

Call Metallic today. You’ll be glad you did.

TWO GREAT NAMES IN STEEL BUILDINGS

METALLICBUILDING COMPANY

4601 HOLMES ROADPHONE RE 4-1611HOUSTON, TEXAS 77021

JANUARY, 1964 5

GENERAL GULF AGENTS:TEXAS TRANSPORT& TERMINAL CO., INC.

1310 Whitney Bldg.,New Orleanswith offices in:Houston, Galveston,Brownsville, Corpus Christi,Beaumont, Lake Charles,Mobile, Panama City,Tampa, Miami,Port Everglades, St. Louis,Memphis, Dallas

"SERVING AMERICAN TRADE

SINCE 1873"

We#wind A#iee line

INDEPENDENT SERVICE

Regular scheduled monthly sailings from

NEW ORLEANS ¯ HOUSTON ̄ LAKE CHARLESPORT ARTHUR /f svl~cient cargo offers

ToDAKAR ¯ FREETOWN ̄ ABIDJAN ¯ TAKORADI

TEMA ¯ LAGOS/APAPA ¯ DOUALA ¯ MATADI

SOUTHERN STAR SHIPPING CO.,INC.General Agemls 29 Bcoadway, New Yoek, N.Y.

TEXAS TRANSPORT & TERMINAL CO.,INC.

Gnlf General Agents

NEW ORLEANS HOUSTON1310 Whitney BId9 529-2241 1101 Cotton Exchange Bldg. Capitol 5-5461

Freight Representatives

NEW YORK CHICAGO52 Broadway Digby 4-4210 Board of Trade Bldg. Harrison 7-1942

C. T.O. LINECompagnie Maritimes Des Chargeurs Reunis

Direct from U.S. Gulf

Regular Independent ServiceTo

HONG KONGIMANILAmAND FAR EAST

Regular Liner Service To

SINGAPOREIDJAKARTAIBANGKOKPENANG

¢r

E. S. BINNINGS, INC.Gulf Agents

1114 TEXAS AVENUE BLDG., HOUSTON, TEXAS

OfficesGALVESTON--NEW ORLEANS--DALLAS--MEMPHIS

ST LOUIS~r

General Agents for North America and the CaribbeanBLACK DIAMOND S/S CO., 2 BROADWAY, N. Y.

6 PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

PORT OFHOUSTON

Official PublicationOf the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District

Volume 6 January, 1964 No. 1

Directory Of OfficialsFOR THE

Port of Houston ContentsPORT COMMISSIONERS

HOWARD TELLEPSEN, ChairmanW. N. BLANTON, Vice ChairmanW. M. HATTENWILLIAM W. SHERRILLR. H. PRUETT

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTJ. P. TURNER, General ManagerVERNON BAILEY, Assistant General ManagerJ. L. LOCKETT, JR., CounselSAMUEL B. BRUCE, AuditorTRAVIS SMITH, Engineer and Planning ManagerRICHARD LEACH, Chie] EngineerROBERT W. ROBINSON, Accounts ManagerKENNETH W. STEPHENS, Personnel Manager

and World Trade Bldg. Mgr.T. E. WHATLEY, Administrative AssistantVINCENT D. WILLIAMS, Administrative

Assistant

PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

LLOYD GREGORY, Director o~ lnlormationTED SUMERLIN, Editor o/MagazineVAUGHN n. BRYANT, Director o/

International Relations

SALES DEPARTMENTGEORGE W. ALTVATER, General Sales ManagerEDWARD P. MOORE, District Sales ManagerFRANK WARD, Assistant

25 Broadway, New York, N.Y.HUME A. HENDERSON, District Sales Manager

Board of Trade Building, Chicago, Ill.JOHN R. WEILER, District Sales Manager

1519 Capitol, Houston

OPERATIONS DEPARTMENTC. E. BULLOCK, Operations ManagerT. H. SHERWOOD, Manager o/Grain ElevatorWALLACE J. STAGNER, Manager-Storage

WarehousesCARL L. SHUPTRINE, Chle/Security OfficerD. P. WALSH, Maintenance Superlntcndent

WORLD TRADE CENTEREDWARD J. FAY, Director

EXECUTIVE OFFICES1519 Capitol Avenue at Crawford Street

Telephone CApitol 5-0671P. O. Box 2562, Houston 1, Texas

JANUARY, 1964

Cast Thy Bread .................................................... 8

Keeping In Touch ................................................... 10

Three Wharves Completed ................................. ........ 12

President of Shipping Company Is Optimistic ............................ 13

Interesting News and Views Around The Port ........................... 14

The Houston Port Bureau Reports ...................................... 16

Safmarine Line Looks To Brilliant Future ................................ 17

Houston Steamship Agents ............................................ 30

Port of Houston Shipping Directory .................................... 31

Sailing Schedule of General Cargo Ships ................................ 32

THE COVER

Tied up at the Port of Houston’s Bulk Materials Handling Plant is the SouthAfrican Pioneer, one of the colorful Safmarine vessels serving Gulf Ports. Fordetails about this great company see Page 17.

The PORT OF HOUSTON Magazine is pub-lished monthly and distributed free to mari-time, industrial and transportation interests inthe United States and foreign countries. Itspurpose is to inform shippers and others inter-ested in the Port of Houston of its develop-ment, facilities, plans and accomplishments.

This publication is not copyrighted and per-

mission is given for the reproduction or useof any material, provided credit is given tothe Port of Houston.

Additional information or extra copies ofthis magazine may be obtained by writingThe Port of Houston Magazine, 3005 Louisi-ana Street, Houston 6, Texas.

CastThis account o/ a little.known event which had a significant effect

on the opening o] Japan to western commerce holds special interestto shippers through the Port of Houston, which offers some

30 sailings a month to the Far East by 14 steamship lines. Theauthor, Frederick B. Van Brunt, was born in Japan and is the

grandson o] a China Sea captain. He speaks fluent Japanese, is anauthority on the country and served in Marine intelligence dur-

ing World War 11 in the Pacific and later in Korea. He is nationalsales manager in Houston /or Radio Station KILT.raThe Editor.

BY FREDERICK B. VAN BRUNT

THE ACCOUNT OF A RESCUE at sea that altered the course of a nation remainsas a classic tale. It begins with the entry in the log book of the whaling vesselJOHN HOWLAND, Captain William H. Whitfield, Master, sailing from NewBedford, Mass., for the Japan Sea in 1839."Sunday, June 27, 1841

"This day light wind from SE isle insight at 1 p.m. Sent in two boats to see ifthere were any turtle, found five poordistressed people on the isle, took themoff, could not understand from themmore than they were hungry. Made thelatitude of the island 30° 31 minutesnorth."Monday, June 28

"This day light winds from the SE,the island in sight. To the Westward,stood to the SW at 1 p.m. landed andbrought off what few clothes the fivemen left."

The five men were Japanese fisher-men who had been blown into the ChinaSea during a typhoon and had foundrefuge on the small barren island. Theyhad subsisted for almost six monthsmainly on seaweed, turtle eggs and birds.When the whaling season ended in Oc-tober of 1841, Captain Whitfield sailedfor the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).Here he put ashore four of the rescuedmen. The fifth, a boy of fourteen whohad been acting as a cabin boy to thecaptain, begged to be allowed to remainaboard and continue the voyage toAmerica.

The youngster had become very at-tached to the captain and could nowspeak English quite well. His cheerful-ness and desire to learn had made afavorable impression on the captain andhis crew and it was decided to take himto America. MANJIRO NAKAII.AMA wastoo difficult a name for the crew to re-member and in time he became knownas plain John Mung.

Upon his arrival in Fairhaven, Cap-tain Whitfield made arrangements forNakahama to stay with relatives andattend public school. He was never re-garded as a servant but rather as a fos-ter son to the captain. He was treatedas a member of the captain’s family and

encouraged to avail himself of an educa-tion.

In those days young boys were taughta trade, usually connected with thewhaling industry in addition to formalschooling. Nakahama learned to be acooper and excelled at it. His friends inFairhaven remember him best for hisindustry and the ease with which hemastered his studies, particularly math-ematics and navigation.

The boy always maintained a strongdesire to return to Japan and see hismother once again. This yearning pre-sented one severe obstacle inasmuch asthe ports of Japan were closed in thosedays and the law of the land decreedthat any native who left the islands andattempted to return would be put todeath.

In 1849 he tried his luck in the goldfields of California and was moderatelysuccessful. During these years he neverstopped thinking about the possibilitiesof returning to Japan, and after spend-ing only a short while in the gold fieldshe worked his way to Honolulu wherehe located three of his fishermen friends,one having died. He discovered thatthey too were anxious to return to theirhomeland.

With the assistance of Mr. Alien, theAmerican Consul in Honolulu, and Mr.Damon who was the chaplain of theSeaman’s Bethel there, they secured awhaleboat and the necessary stores tostart their journey. Their passage wasarranged on a merchantman headed forChina whose captain agreed to put themoff near the Loo Choo Island (Okinawa),south of Japan.

Ten years passed before the W]litfieldfamily received any word of Nakahama.

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Then in 1880 a letter telling of his ex-periences was received by them. Thatletter is reproduced here.

Sandwich Islands, May 2, 1860Captain William H. WhitfieldMy honored ]riend

I am very happy to say i had an op-portunity to say to you a few lines. I amstill living and hope you were the sameblessing, i wish to meet you in thisworld once more. How happy we wouldbe. Give my best respects to Mrs. andMiss Amelia Whitfield. i long to seethem. Captain you must not send yourboys to the whaling business. You mustsend them to Japan. i will take care ofthem or him if you will. Let me knowbefore send and i will make the arrange-ment for it.

Now i will let you know how i amarrived to my Native Country. Youknow that i have been to gold mine herestayed four months average eight Dollsper day, besides expenses, from here imade my mind to get back and see DearMofher and also shipped in one of theAmerican Merchant men. In this vesselarrived to Sand which Island. I foundour dear friend Mr. Damon through hiskindness bought a whale boat and putinto a Merchantman. This vessel wasgoing to Shanghai in China.

It was January very cold that part ofcountry. There i went on shore south ofGreat Lor Choo it was gall with snow.The Capt. of vessel he wish me to staywith him and to go to China, but irefused it, because i wanted to see myMother. The boat is ready for me to getin, myself, DENNOVA (sic) and GO-YESAMA jump into the boat, partedwith ship at 4 p.m. After ten hours hard

PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

pull we arrived off island and anchoreduntil morning.

i went ashore amongst the Loo Choo,but i cannot understand their language.i have forgotten all Japanese words. Istay here six months, under care of theKing of Loo Choo, waiting for Japanesejunk to come.

In month of July get on board ofjunk and went into the Harbour ofNagashikiri Island, off KIE-U-SEE-U,waiting to get permission for 10 monthsbefore we get to our residence. Afterall the things is properly regulated wewere sent to our residence. It was greatjoy to Mother and all the relatives, ihave stayed with my Mother only threeday and nig’ht the Emperor called me toEDO. Now i become emperian officer.At this time i am attached to this vessel.

This war steamer were send by Em-peror of Japan to the compliments oftire President of America. We went toSan Francisco, California, and nowhomeward bound at Sandwich to touchisland to secure some coal and provi-sions. I wish to send tire letter from SanFrancisco but so many Japanese i can’t.i wrote this between passage from SanFrancisco to Island. Excuse me my manymistakes i can write better after ourarrival Japan, Edo.

I wish for you to come to Japan, iwill now lead my Dear Friend to myhouse, now the port opened to all thenations. I found our friend Samuel C.Damon. We was so happy each other Icannot write it all. When get home Iwill write better acct. I will send to you

JANUARY, 1964

suit of my clothes. It is not new, butonly for remember me.

I remain your friend,

Jolm Murgero (May 25, 1860)

It appears from the testimony of Mr.Damon, who talked at length with Na-kahama during his visit to Honolulu,that the lad John Mung had become acelebrity and a man of influence inJapan. Being a Japanese who had beento America, Nakahama created a gooddeal of curiosity during his detention atNagasaki. He was besieged by curiouscrowds who were anxious to learn of hisadventures and experiences. He neverfailed to reaffirm the generosity andkindness s’hown him by the Americanpeople. After a long delay he was finallybrought before the Shogun in Edo(Tokyo) where Ire greatly impressed theemperor and was appointed to instructEnglish and navigation in the govern-ment schools of Japan.

It is interesting to note that duringthis period he translated Bowditch’s"Navigator" into Japanese. Tbe follow-ing paragraph prepared by the JapaneseEmbassy relates the important part heplayed at fhe signing of the now famousPerry Treaty between Japan and theUnited States.

"On that historic event when tirePerry Mission from the United Stateslanded at Uruga in 1853, Manjiro Naka-bama served as interpreter. No moresuitable person could have been foundin Japan. Nakahama knew the Americanspirit and desires. Any blunder on hispart might have resulted in an interna-tional disaster, as it was, the Perry Mis-

sion was a great success. In spite of thepowerful conservatism of Japan’s rulingclasses at that time, the country wasopened to world wide commerce. Thekindness shown by Captain Whitfield,by the good people of Fairhaven andNew Bedford, toward a lone young Jap-anese boy was truly fruitful."

As a result of the Perry Treaty, Japangradually became inculcated with West-ern ways and Nakahama naturally be-came a leader in this movement. Hisexperiences and knowledge of Americamade him a man whose advice was con-stantly sought after by his government.In conjunction with his advisory ca-pacity to his government, he was closelyassociated with an institute for the studyof modern steamship e, onstruction andassisted in the promotion of the whalingindustry of Japan. He was an officer onthe first Japanese trans-pacific steamerto California. It was at this time that hehad his first opportunity to communi-cate with Captain Whitfield.

During the Franco Prussian war of1870, he was sent to Europe to studymilitary science and at the same timecame to this country where he was for-mally received in Washington. He alsorevisited Fairhaven and spent one nightwith Captain Whitfield and his family.

In his later years Nakahama was aprofessor at the University of Tokyo.He married in Japan and had severalchildren the eldest, Dr. Toichiro Naka-hama was a prominent physician and adistinguished citizen of Japan. In 1918Dr. Nakahama presented a sword to thetown of Fairhaven commemorating therescue of his father and the kindnessshown him during his youth in thattown.

Ships At Sea

A nd Agents Ashore

Find It’s Easy

Keeping In TouchBy Calling On

W AStation Manager E. G. Hammons examines tile ~Tilcox high

frequency transmitter.

10

A CONSTANT INCREASE ill tile flow of shipping in and outof a seaport provides a fairly accurate indication that such aharbor is growing in importance and is also providing goodfacilities for shipping interests.

Such things as available docking space, protected anchor-ages with deep water, good loading and unloading facilities,adequate rail and road networks and, last but by no meansleast, good marine communications facilities are all neededto keep this xital flow of marine traffic going.

The Port of Houston fortunately provides all of these bene-fits. However, not everyone knows the role played by marinecommunications and particularly by RCA’s station WPA inthe bustling life of the Port of Houston.

The Radio Corporation of America has provided radiotelegraph service to and from ships at sea since 1919. Theexperience thus acquired has been put to good use in thedesign of the most modern marine radiotelegraph facilitieswhich, combined with RCA’s marine radio station network,furnish shipping interests a world-wide marine communica-tion service second to none.

This marim: station network, consisting of 12 stations stra-tegically located along the coasts and inland waterways ofthe continental United States phls one in Hawaii and anotherin lhe Philippines, handles more than .150,000 marine tele-grams each year, of which nearly 28,000 are through WPA.Marine telegraph service is fast, accurate and dependable.

An outstanding unit in this comprehensive network of coaststations is Port Arthur Radio, call letters "WPA," the oldestmarine radio station in tile Houston-Port Arthur area. StationWPA was brought into the RCA system in the 1920’s. Situ-ated just below the Intraeoastal Canal on the bank of theSabine Ship Channel, WPA, as it is commonly referred to,serves the entire Gulf of Mexico, particularly the Texas-Louisiana coast from Brownsville to New Orleans.

Like most important seaports, the Port of Houston dependson efficient marine communications to compete with other

PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

C. B. Buddecke, left, sits at the 5000 kilocycle position andR. Shepherd is at the high frequency position in the operationsroom at WPA.

ports for a greater share of the international business andtonnage. In international business today competition requirest’hat agents and marine operators in the Port of Houston areanot only reach their overseas correspondent quickly but alsothat they have the capability of communicating with theirships sailing coastwise or anywhere in the ~orld.

Each tanker, freighter or passenger ship arriving or de-parting the Port of Houston must communicate, at some time.with t’he agent or owner for a variety of reasons some ofwhich may be berthing instructions, loa(Jing, unloading, bunk-ering, stores, position reports, weather reports, diversion toanother port, emergency medical cases or simply replacementof a crew member. The importance of dependable and reli-able communications between ship and shore or shore andship cannot be overstressed.

Humble Oil and Refining Co., a long-time user of RCAmarine service, is one of the biggest users of the Port ofHouston. Each month, on an average, 50 tankers operatefrom the company’s Baytown docks, bringing in or takingout 6.5 million barrels of petroleum products. The importanceof modern communications service in coordinating the move-ment of their tankers and enormous tonnage in and out ofHouston can scarcely be over emphasized.

Recently, RCA installed four new and more powerful highfrequency transmitters at WPA station. The addition of thesehigh frequency transmitters capable of producing a morepowerful transmission of signals not only extended the effec-tiw~ service area hut permitted the use of more frequenciesthereby furlher improving WPA’s service.

New receiving equipment providing even better coverageof the ship’s calling frequencies has also been added. Inconjunction with the new receivers, scanners are employedto automatically tune the receivers over the band of fre-quencies which the ships use wheu calling coast stations.These scanners insure constant surveillance of these bands

and assist the operators who must tune thc receiw’rs manu-ally. The advent of automatic scanning allows the WPAoperators to maintain a continuous listening watch on all ofthe marine hands being guarded.

WPA maintains a two man watch on the marine radiohands during business hours, on weekdays and at other timesas required. Ea(:h coast station has the responsibility of listen-ing for ships calling on a number of frequencies. The twoman watch enables the operators to answer ship calls with aminimum of delay and also facilitate the reception of weaksignals which might overthwise be undetected. Coast stationsare always on the alert for distress calls and messages per-raining to safety of life at sea.

Companies with a marine requirement as well as ship-owners and steamship agents may send messages to ships any-where in the world through WPA. Ewm though the primaryservice area for WPA is the Gulf of Mexico. messages in-tended for ships at sea which are not in the primary servicearea of WPA may also he tiled with WPA. These messagesare accepted by WPA and if the addressee is heyond thestation’s range they are relaw~d to the I{CA coast station orstations best qualitied to effect delivery of the message.

RCA’s largest marine station, Chatham Radio. on Cape Cod(an comnmnicatc with ships anywhere in the w(,rld. Thereis no extra charge to the sender when WPA places the marinemessage at one or more I/CA coastal radio stations. Ofcourse, to he reached through WPA. the vessel must be at sea.Those vessels which are docked, regardless of location, maybe reached through domestic or o~erseas telegraph facilities,generally in care of the agent rei)rcsenting the w’ssel in thatparticular port.

l/CA is proud to be associated with the Port of Houstonand participate in its growth both in tonnage and in interna-tional trade, said Ed Hammons, manager of WPA.

JANUARY, 1964 11

Open Wharf 23 and covered Wharves24 and 25 with their giant single buildingproviding two transit sheds are shown inthis view looking south from the northside of the channel below the TurningBasin at tile Port of Houston. New ship-side storage warehouse 25-4 is to left.

3 WHARVES

COMPLETEDLong enough and wide enough to tic-

commodate four football fields laid endto end, the cavernous interiors of the twonew transit sheds at Wharves 24 and 25in the Port of Houston are well-lit andwith a minimum of column interferencefor the quick and easy movement ofcargo. This view is from the entrance toShed 24 looking south through the con-tiguous structure to the end door of Shed25.

Three new wharves providing the mostmodern of cargo-handling facilities wereofficially accepted by the Harris CountyHouston Ship Channel Navigation Dis-triel in mid-December, eomph’ting tlwfirst phase of a building and develop-ment program which has cost upwardsof $31 million over the last sew’n years.

The three new berths and two hugetransit sheds, together with access andservice roads, rail crossovers and broadaprons were built at a cost of $L296,700over a period of 901 (alendar days m"about two and one half )’ears.

Each wharf is 600 feet long, ~ith 52foot aprons on the channel side of thetwo transit sheds and 25 foot loadingareas on the landside. Inside. the shpdsare 200 feet "~vide giving the wharves atotal width o[" 277 feet.

Wharf No. 23 is a fully-lighted openwharf with rail crossoxers and adjacentto it downstream are ne~ Wharves 21and 25 which use one continuous build-ing 108,0 feet long and 200 feel wideto form their two transit sheds. The

shed,, haxe 20 foot headroom with asingle peak roof and only one row o{eohmms on 18 foot centers.

The sheds are of corrugated metalwith steel frame, with a reinforced con-crete wall around their base. Doors atthe end are 30 feet ~ide b) 18 feet highand the shipside and landside doors are1l, by 11, feet.

The wharves are designed to accom-modate t~o 30-ton gantry cranes in tan-dem for a dO-ton lift at a 60 foot radius.There are three sets of rail tracks on theaprons with crossovers to facilitates~vilching and two sets of rail tracks onlhe land side of the sheds.

Water depth alongside is in excessof 36 feet.

Claude Everett Construction Co. wasthe contractor on the dock constructionand Houtex Construction Co. built thesheds. The design work for both wasdone by the Navigation I)istriet engi-neering department under Engineer andPlanning Manager Travis Smith Ill.

No. 47 In a Series

Meet /9.....4. ’pete"

Presidenl .f ShippinqE,nmpany Is Optimistic

Men Who make The Port of Houston Hum

BY LLOYD GREGORYInformation Director

SIx MONTHS AGO, Pedro A. "Pete" Grana and Rufus

Arriaga organized Lone Star Shipping, Inc.They had misgivings, but today they’re "sitting on top

of the world," with business booming and prospects bright.Pedro and Rufus have been friends for years, and both

young men had worked for P. D. Marchessini and Company.Grana is president of Lone Star Shipping; Arriaga executivevice president.

"There are still great opportunities at the Port of Hous-ton for men who are willing to hustle and solicit business,"Mr. Grana said.

"Among factors that will make the Port of Houston evengreater are :

"A forward looking group of Navigation District com-missioners and an alert general manager--all seeking to ex-pand facilities and services.

"A hard hitting sales force under George V. Altvater."Greg Perry’s Houston Port Bureau always fighting for

competitive rates."Lone Star Shipping is agent for these steamship lines:

Azta Independent refer and dry cargo service to Cristobal(Colon), Balboa (Panama City), Punta Arenas, La Libertad,and Corinto.

Continental--Fast, direct service to and from Puerto Cortesand Puerto Limon.

Flomerea--Direet service to and from Matias de Galvezand Puerto Barrios--also E1 Salvador via Puerto Barrios.

Norge--Independent express service with fortnightly sail-ings to Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp.

Orient Overseas---Dependable independent service to Yoko-hama, Nagoya, Kobe, Osaka, Pusan, Inehon, Keelung, HongKong and Kaohsiung.

Torm--Conferce service to the Mediterranean--Lexioes,Lisbon, Cadiz, Cartagena, Alicantes, Valencia, Barcelona,Algiers, Savona, Naples, Genoa, Tunis, Lattakia, Beirut, Alex-andria.

Insco and Associates Maritime Industries, Inc.Among imports handled by Lone Star Shipping are:Steel and steel products, and automobiles from the Conti-

nent; Hard woods from the Far East; mushrooms and pine-apples from Formosa; coffee from Central America.

Cotton, chemicals, synthetic rubber, resin, carbon black,petroleum products and machinery, are among exports.

The crew-cut, soft spoken Pedro Grana, known to manyof his friends as "Pete," was born in Puerto Rico in March,1927, and educated at the University of Puerto Rico.

Mr. Grana went to work in 1947 for Straehan ShippingCompany here, staying with that company until May, 1960,when he became associated with P. D. Marchessini and Com-pany.

Mr. Grana is a member of the World Trade Association,World Trade Club, and Propeller Club.

Mr. Grana married Miss Nina Velazques of Corpus Christi.They have three children: David, 11; Victor, 7, and Jaime, 6.

The Granas live at 667 Shawnee. They are members ofSt. Francis Gabrini church. P. A. "PETE" GRANA

JANUARY, 1964 13

ii~~ !ii iii i!iii~ i Z

Work is nearing completion on a quarter of a million dollarrenovation and rehabilitation of Wharf 11 at the NavigationDistrict providing this new steel-frame, corrugated metal-cladtransit shed measuring 125 feet by ,~180 feet clear span withno interior columns. It replaces the old cement shed whichwas the same interior size but with a forest of columns run-ning both ways on 20 foot centers. The new peaked roof shedprovides good lighting and fast, easier maneuvering of cargo,has vertical clearance of 20 feet compared to the old shed’s

12 to 1l feet and has eight 11 by 11 foot doors on both landand shipside plus 20 by 11 ft. doors at either end. The Wharf1 l improvements are part of a rehabilitation which will pro-vide a low level access road and rails running from the headof the Turning Basin behind Wharves 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 ata cost of some $800,000, providing both rail and truck loadingand unloading facilities at these sheds served previouslyprincipally by rail.

INTERESTING NEWS AND VIEWSA large segment of Houston’s

Consular Corps gathered at Inter-national Airport late last month to bid

farewell to Jan P. Engels, on steps, center,Consul General of The Netherlands

and Dean of the Consular Corps, whoreturned to The Hague via KLM for

re-assignment. Among the consulatesrepresented above are Germany, Costa

Rica, Belgium, Israel, The Netherlands,Peru, Great Britain, Sweden, France,

Finland, China, Panama, Argentina,Japan and Brazil. On the steps with Dean

Engels is B. J. Cornelisse, regionalmanager of KLM and to the left of Cor-

nelisse are Mr. and Mrs. C. GeorgeMeerburg, originally from Holland. Mr.

Meerburg is vice president, Texas, ofTexas Transport & Terminal Co. which

are agents for the Holland-AmericanLine. At the extreme left is retired

Admiral J. E. Meyer Ranneft, formerlyof the Royal Dutch Navy.

14

Friends and colleagues were on handlast month to bid farewell to JanJacobsen, commercial officer of the RoyalDanish Consulate (seated, right, withDanish Consul Bernhard Daugbjerg)who has been assigned to the RoyalDanish Consulate General in New York.Left to right, standing, are RolfEberhard Jung, vice consul of Germany;Vaughn M. Bryant, director of inter-national relations, Port of Houston;George Elliott, Consul General of Bel-gium; Jan Bezems, vice consul in chargeof the Royal Netherlands ConsulateGeneral; Robert Turner, BelgianConsulate commercial officer ; HaroldHahlberg, vice consul in charge of theRoyal Swedish Consulate, and KnrtJohnson, Consulate commercial officer.

PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

A selected group of students from allthe senior high schools of Houston andvicinity were given a day’s seminar onworld trade by officers and members oftile Houston World Trade Associationin the World Trade Club last monthand then taken on a tour of the Portof Houston. During the tour they visitedthe Norwegian vessel GYDA of theNorge Line, in port to discharge generalcargo from northern Europe and loadcargo in Houston for Rotterdam, Ham-burg and Antwerp. Shown here withCaptain Johan Madsen of the GYDA,(in light coat, center, flanked by girlstudents,) they observe loading opera-tions of Texas hides by longshoremenin one of the ship’s after holds.

Nevada governor Grant Sawyer,fourth from right, headed a state in-

dustrial development commission tourthat visited the Port of Houston recently.Accompanying Governor Sawyer, aboard

the Navigation District’s inspectionvessel SAM HOUSTON were, left to

right, Nevada business men A. M. Smith,Harry Levy, R. A. Lusk, Jack Melvin,Fred Smith, Sam Boyd, Paul Garwood

and R. S. Keyser.

AROUND THE PORT OF HOUSTON/

The Texas Nautical Co., Inc., known for years to the ship-ping trade as "The Mariner’s Mart" from their offices in theCotton Exchange Bldg., have opened new offices on the groundfloor of the World Trade Building. Bowen Boat Co. and GulfCoast Marine, Inc., both dealing in ship brokerage, also haveoffices with Texas Nautical. Compasses, sextants, chronometers,clocks, charts--anything dealing with navigation--are avail-able at Texas Nautical according to Gary Murphy, office man-ager, shown here talking with a prospective customer. Behindhim in white shirt is Bob Murray who does compass adjustingfor Texas Nautical and in the far rear are navigational chartsand books.

JANUARY, 1964

The newest addition to grain elevator facilities went intooperation recently when the M. V. SLOTERDYK took on 2700long tons of wheat at the new Goodpasture Terminal at GalenaPark on the north side of the Houston Ship Channel. Lookingdown the open hatch as the first wheat pours into the Holland-America Line ship are Grady Goodpasture, right, president ofthe Goodpasture Grain and Milling Co., Inc., and Captain W.L. Farnsworth, Jr., deputy chief surveyor, West Gulf Ports,National Cargo Bureau, Inc. The new privately-owned terminalhas a grain storage capacity of six and one half million bushels.One channel-side berth has been completed and four more slipberths are to be completed in the next year and will providefor handling of general cargo as well as grain.

15

PROMINENCE OF HOUSTON as a barge port on the Intra-coastal Waterway is displayed by the 121~ million tons oftraffic with other points on the canal and the nation’s riversystems in 1962. Corps of Engineers figures for that yearshow over 700,000 tons of barked steel and pipe were handledat this port. Recent railroad proposals to equalize ports ondomestic traffic were declined by the Texas-Louisiana linesfollowing opposing arguments of the Port Bureau. Publication

of these propositions, w’hich would have given the Louisianaports Houston rates on ex-barge steel to interior points, wouldhave altogether departed from normal concepts of port andcarrier competitive equality on import traffic. Texas oil fieldhaulers have been named defendants in an I.C.C. complaintcase (Docket 34341) filed by the Railroad Commission Texas, contending that the Railroad Commission, rather thanthe Interstate Commerce Commission has supervision overtruck transportation of pipe from storage yards in Texas todestinations in Texas, when the pipe was brought into Texasvia barge, rail or truck. Oral hearings in this proceeding ispresently scheduled to commence at Austin, Texas on Janu-ary 9, 1964. ~ . ~.

REDUCED SPLIT-DELIVERY CHARGES at Gulf ports, on railcars requiring placement to more than one vessel berth, areto be published as result of a proposal submitted to theSouthern Ports railroads by the Port Bureau, on export car-load traffic originating at points in the Midwest. Similarreductions are being requested of the Southwestern and theTexas-Louisiana Freight Bureau carriers. Now proceeding topublication, the SPFFC split-delivery rule will be amendedin two principal respects: (a) in reducing, from 25~, 15¢, the per-hundredweight cost of delivering those lots offreight in the car with the second, third, fourth and fifth

16

greatest weights; and (b) establishing a maximum chargeof $40.00 in effecting each such subsequent delivery. Eachdelivery subsequent to the first free delivery would continueto bear a $10.00 minimum charge. For delivery of any por-tions beyond the fifth delivery, charge is to be 25~ cwt. sub-ject to a minimum of $15.00 and to a maximum of $40.00.It is felt that this successful proposal will terminate the dis-satisfactions and ambiguities resulting from railroads’ publi-cation of the high split-delivery charges on June 10. We arehopeful that the other rail jurisdictions will quickly approvethe identical amendment, and have secured a January 7Dallas public hearing before the Texas-Louisiana lines.

EXPORT RATES TO THE GULF on wheat and wheat flourfrom Southwestern and Midwestern origins, scheduled tobecome effective on November 15 but still in litigation broughtby Great Lakes interests in I.C.C. Docket I&S 7942, havebeen postponed through May 15, 1964. Routing considera-tions prevented our railroads from making the rates effectiveat the end of the normal suspension period, and this mostrecent postponement is for the purpose of allowing an I.C.C.decision.

A DALLAS PUBLIC HEARING is set before the Texas-Louisi-ana Freight Bureau railroads on their proposed impositionof blocking-bracing charges on import traffic destined topoints in Texas and Louisiana. On traffic required to beblocked, braced, staked or otherwise secured in or on cars,a basic charge of $30.00 would apply but with specificcharges by commodity including $74.00 on vehicles andmarble, $150.00 on glass to open-top cars, $185.00 on cranes,$30.00 on all DF cars, and varying amounts on lumberarticles. The Port Bureau and other Gulf ports will appearin opposition to this proposal (TLFB Apn. 179-1), and im-porters or their agents are requested to participate. TheSouthwestern railroads, meanwhile, have announced a publichearing for early February on the same proposition (SWLApn. 179-7), which would extend the schedule of charges toimport traffic consigned to Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado,and New Mexico plus other traffic moving on rates publishedin SWL tariffs. This blocking-bracing subject has been listedfor reconsideration, additionally, at the Southern Ports For-eign Freight Committee meeting on January 28th in Mobile,where railroads also will consider extending the mandatorycharge on traffic where carriers do not bear the cost ofmaterials used in blocking-bracing.

JOINT REPLY BRIEF of the Gulf ports has been filed answer-ing several petitions requesting I.C.C. reconsideration of aCommission order dismissing a formal complaint against Gulfexport rates on bentonite clay from South Dakota. Continuedparticipation in this important case by the several Gulf portsseeks an unholding of the I.C.C. order.

PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

Two Safmarine shipsat the Capetown Harbor. .........

Safmarine Line [ooks. |o Brilliant [ntureBy Serving ]wo Growing Industrial Areas

LLOYD’S OF LONDON, a much honoredadjunct to the world’s shipping industry,has predicted that by the year 2000 A.D.,the Texas Gulf coast and South Africawill contain the world’s two largestcities and will be the world’s most highlydeveloped industrial centers.

Joining these two promising regionsis the South African Marine Corpora-tion, Limited. Steamship Company.

Before 1930 South Africa’s economywas based on its gold mining industryand most of its trade was with NorthEurope in vessels owned by other na-tions. Having no local industry, SouthAfrica was dependent for receipt offinished goods on the goodwill of othersas far as ocean transport was concerned.World War II showed the people ofSouth Africa how vital a shipping linkwas to their economy.

At the same time, the development ofan expanding industrial economy fol-lowing the establishment of a nationalelectricity network and a fully inte-grated steel industry in the late 1920’smade it necessary for South Africans tolook for new connections in commerce.

However, because tile country hadlittle to offer to the shipping pool in theway of ocean-going vessels, it had vir-tually no voice in [he movement ofships, or in shipping priorities.

In the mid-191.0’s the South Africangovernment, in order to ensure that hershipping industry would develop in aproper manner, introduced a SouthAfrican Merchant Shipping Bill in Par-liament. The bill, which has been de-scribed as a fine example of such legis-lation, was passed in due course.

At the same time the [Snitcd Statesgovernment expressed its contention thatit favored the division of the movementof cargo on as equal a basis as possiblebetween American-flag vessels and ves-sels operated by the countries with whichthe United States was trading.

The actions of the United States andSouth African governments promptedthe establishment of a South Africancompany to run a cargo liner servicebetween the U. S. and South Africa. Theplan was developed and implementedby Henry D. Mercer, founder and chair-man of the board of the States MarineCorporation of New York and by the

late Dr. H. J. van dcr Biji of SouthAfrica in 1946.

Thus, the South African Marine Cor-poration, Limited, "Safmarine," startedits first run in July, 1947 between theU. S. Atlantic coast ports and SouthAfrica. Three Victory ships were ac-quired from the United States MaritimeCommission and lint into service as theS.S. CONSTANTIA, the S.S. MORGEN-STER, and the S.S. VERGELEGEN.Although still in service, they have beenrenamed the S.S. SOUTH AFRICANVANGUARD, the S.S. SOUTH AFRI-CAN VENTURE, and the S.S. SOUTHAFRICAN VICTORY in order to fall inline with a policy of having the words"South African" as a prefix to thenames of all Safmarine vessels.

Safmarine’s America-South Africaservice commenced on a monthly basis.This proved extremely successful, and indue course a fortnightly service wasdeveloped, which has been maintainedwithout interruption over the past 14years. Safmarine has been serving tileGulf to South Africa for a number ofyears and last year commenced a gen-eral cargo service from South and EastAfrica making regular calls at Houston

JANUARY, 1964 17

and other Gulf ports. Safmarine nowoffers two sailings a month from theGulf.

Outbound cargoes from the Gulf toSouth Africa usually consist of cottonrice, machinery, synthetic rubber, rawplastics and carbon black. Inbound tothe Gulf, Safmarine carries fish meal,ores, vermiculite, asbestos, steel andwhale oil.

In 1950, Safmarine broke groundwhen the company was admitted to theconference of shipping lines operatingbetween the United Kingdom/continentand South and South East Africa andin May, 1950, a monthly southboundservice was established between the westcoast United Kingdom ports and SouthAfrica. At a later date a northboundservice was also commenced, and todaya regular monthly service is maintainedin both directions.

During 1955 and 1956 Safmarine ac-quired four new vessels, viz, SOUTHAFRICAN MARCHANT, SOUTH AF-RICAN PIONEER, SOUTH AFRICANTRANSPORTER, and SOUTH AFRI-CAN TRADER, bringing the total of itsowned fleet to sewm vessels.

In April, 1959, the States MarineCorporation disposed of its interest inSafmarine. The Industrial DevelopmentCorporation of South Africa, Limited,purchased all the equity held by StatesMarine, ensuring that the financial con-trol of Safmarine would be located inSouth Africa.

In July, 1961, Safmarine expanded

18

Large pieces of machinery are han-dled with ease by the South AfricanVictory, which is shown loading at thePort of Houston.

again, acquiring as a totally owned sub-sidiary, the Springbok Line which hadbeen owned by the British and Com-monwealth Shipping Company, Limited.

The Springbok Shipping Company,Limited, became active in South Africaabout 1959 when it took over the shipsand business of the former Bullard Kingand Company, Limited. The SpringbokCompany owned several cargo shipswhich, added to the existing fleet, gaveSafmarine ten owned vessels. Safmarinealso maintains some eight to ten vesselson time-charter to augment its own fleetand to enable it to cover all services.

Safmarine is presently building afully refrigerated cargo vessel at theVerolme United Shipyards in Holland.This vessel will have 470,000 cubic feetof refrigerated space capable of stowing9,000 tons of fruit. At the GreenockDockyard, Scotland, three similar vesselsare being built for the account of Britishand Commonwealth Shipping Companyfor long term bare-boat charter to Saf-marine.

The Verohne-built ship, the M. F.LANGKLOOF, will be propelled by aM.A.N. single-acting supercharger two-stroke reversible engine to a maximumspeed of 181~ knots. At 85 per centmaximum output the engine will pro-duce 8,160 horsepower to give the vessela service speed of 171/_o knots.

The LANGKLOOF will have all sixholds fitted with McGregor hatch covers.Lifting gear will include ten 5-ton boomsand two 10-ton booms. The 520 ft. 9 in.long vessel will have a summer dead-weight of 9,700 tons and a draft of 24.ft. 1,1 in.

The head office of Safmarine is lo-cated at African Life Centre, CapeTown, and there are branch offices atJohannesburg, Durban and Port Eliza-beth. Totally owned subsidiary com-panies look after the Corporation’sinterests in London, New York andSalisbury (Southern Rhodesia).

F. H. Y. Bamford, chairman, andJ. G. Finlay, deputy chairman-jointmanaging director, have been associatedwith the company since its formation,as has P. J. Norman, group secretary.D. G. Malan joint managing director,has been associated with the SpringbokShipping Company, Limited, since itsformation. The other directors of Saf-

PORTOF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

marine are Dr. H. J. van Eck, P. Bar-low, G. S. J. Kusehke and J. A. Thom-son. The executive manager is M. deWilton Marsh.

Safmarine is represented in the UnitedStates by its associate company, SouthAfrican Marine Corporation {N.Y.),New York City.

The president of the New York com-pan~ is Frank Demarco and the vice-president is L. Buser. I~oth men havebeen with thc company since its ineep-lion. Safmarine also maintains an ofliccin Chicago.

Hansen & Tidemann, Inc., representsSafmarine at all Gulf ports and atMemphis and Dallas.

An artist’s impression of the M. V.LANGKLOOF, a completely refrigeratedship being built in Holland at Safmarinespecifications. She and three similar shipswill be used to carry fresh fruit toEurope from South Africa.

A huge steel forging is being movedto the deck of a Safmarine ship for acustomer in South Africa.

A Safmarine ship is taking on acargo for its return voyage at one ofthe Port of Houston’s open docks.

JANUARY, 1964 19

LINES LIMITED

40 VESSELSSERVE

HELLENIC SHIPPERSUNDER THIS

FLAG!

Frequent SailingsExpress Serviceto and from the

MEDITERRANEANRED SEA

ARABIAN GULFand

INDIAPAKISTANCEYLONBURMA

Refrigerated SpaceDeep Tanks ̄ Heavy Lifts

Passenger Accommodations

HELLENIC LINES LIMITED319 International Trade Mart

New Orleans 12

Argentine LinesHas New Service

With the sailing of the RIO BELEMfrom Houston on November 19, theArgentine Lines (E.L.M.A.) inaugu-rated a new Gulf service to provide in-creased and improved direct servicebetween Gulf ports and Buenos Aires,Argentina.

The RIO BELEN will be joined byher sisterships the RIO BELGRANOand the RIO BERMEJO to maintain adirect sailing to Buenos Aires everythree weeks with a transit time of 18

days. The "Rio" vessels are modern,16-knot cargo liners with air conditionedaccommodations for 12 passengers.

The ships have compartments for alltypes of cargo. The cargo compartmentsare equipped with Cargoair. Deep tanksfor liquid cargoes and reefer space areavailable.

The direct service will be supple-mented with three other vessels whichwill call at Brazilian ports en route toBuenos Aires.

The northbound express service fromBrazilian coffee ports will provide re-liable service to the Gulf in 18 days.

Cosmopolitan Shipping Service, Inc.,are general agents and the StrachanShipping Company are Gulf agents.

United States Flag Vessels Owners, Operators, Agents

Regular Sailings From O. $. Gulf Ports to Continental Europe,East Coast of United Kingdom and Scandinavia-Baltic

STATES MARINE LINESmBerIh Agents

Offices In All Principal Gul/ Ports

\

THE SHIPS and THE MENTO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTSCareful cargo handling and stowage.., a vigilant corps of

foreign representatives.., prompt deliveries in modern

freighters that consistently save days in transit time - al!

are part of a planned program to protect your interests

when you ship via Central Gulf.Serving the Mediterranean and East of Suez

In New York, Phone WH 4-8250 for Information or Booking~Houston Agent

_~~II/,_.N~_LE BLANC-PARR, INC. CENTRAL GULF.~~616 Cotton Exchange Building ,4i(Ir~ NEW YORK--WHitehall 4-8250 NEW ORLI:AN$--529-5461

~~ One Whitehall St. 225 Baronne St.

CA 2-2259 ~ .ous,o.-c.o,,.,,.,0,, o..v,,,o._,o.t,..,,,..,,1114 Texas Aveflue Bldg. U. 5. National Bank Bldg.

AREA CODE 713

20 PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE