The Port of Houston Authority's (PHA's) Bayport Container Terminal took a crucial step toward full operation with a two-day test that included docking and security clearance of the first container ship to berth at the facility -- CMA CGM's marine vessel Orca.

Wednesday's ``soft opening'' quietly signified the coming wrap-up of the first phase of major construction work at Bayport Container Terminal. The initial footprint includes one container berth and 65 acres of the ultimate 1,043-acre facility, which will be built out in market demand-driven phases over the next 15 to 20 years. Bayport Container Terminal will have enough space for seven ships and a 378-acre container storage yard and will have a maximum capacity of about 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs -- a maritime industry measurement standard) -- a 200 percent increase over PHA's current container handling capacity.

The terminal has set industry standards in the areas of environmental stewardship, noise mitigation and light intrusion, with its innovative applications of marsh and wetlands replacement and development, first-flush retention ponds that collect sediment before it runs off into Galveston Bay, and reduced-noise backup alarms, in addition to using non-glare light fixtures during its construction phase. The terminal will be in full operation by mid January 2007 and a grand opening is planned for early February.

``We are all excited about the startup of operations at Bayport and anxious to get to full speed as soon as is practical,'' says PHA Executive Director Tom Kornegay. ``Bayport will prove to be a vital link in the global container cargo chain and a cornerstone of the regional economy.''

Fittingly, one of the world's most technologically advanced container ships became the first commercial vessel to call on one of the world's most advanced container terminals.

Orca, built by Hyundai earlier this year, is flagged in the United Kingdom. It stretches the length of three football fields (964 feet), is 105 feet wide and weighs 54,000 tons. Maximum speed of the vessel is 25.1 knots, and it has a container capacity of 5,100 TEUs.

Her maiden voyage saw her dock Wednesday morning at Bayport, where she spent the day being cleared by U.S. Coast Guard officers, and validating the integrity of Bayport docking procedures.

Fully loaded with shiny, dark blue CMA CGM containers, the ship left Bayport at 4 p.m. Thursday bound for the busiest container terminal on Gulf Coast -- PHA's Barbours Cut Container Terminal -- where it is being offloaded through the weekend.

Last month, PHA commissioners approved interim and long-term lease agreements with Terminal Link (Bayport) LLC -- a CMA CGM subsidiary -- for property at Bayport to be used as a depot for handling and storing empty containers.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

(Photo 01) Tugboats carefully guide the container vessel Orca toward the Port of Houston AuthorityÃÂ's Bayport Container Terminal berth during a trial docking Wednesday morning.

(Photo 02) The container ship Orca, laden with a full cargo load, sits berth at the Port of Houston AuthorityÃÂ's Bayport Container Terminal during a midweek trial docking. Bayport was a stop on the shipÂ's maiden voyage.

(Photo 03) CMA CGMÃÂ's container ship Orca is seen from above as it sits berthed at the Port of Houston AuthorityÃ?Â's Bayport Container Terminal.

About PHA

The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 6,600 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and 10th largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee ``C'' futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange.