UNIQUE VESSEL PAYS PORT FREEPORT A VISIT The Facts : October 12, 2009 Unique vessel pays Port Freeport a visit By Nathaniel Lukefahr The Facts Published October 12, 2009 FREEPORT — Sometimes a sinking boat isn’t a bad thing. A semisubmersible vessel docked at Port Freeport last week to pick up four smaller lift boats destined for drilling operations in Nigeria, a rare occurrence at Texas deepwater seaports due to their shallow channel depths. The labor-intensive operation shows the port’s flexibility, being one of a handful of ports on the Gulf Coast capable of the operation, Port Freeport Executive Director A.J. “Pete” Reixach said. “We’re not tied to one specific commodity, whether that be containers or whatever,” Reixach said. “We are a very diversified port, and offer any number of different types of operations that many other ports do not offer. It’s just another tool in our toolbox.” The semisubmersible vessel, which was set to leave port Friday, provides safe and efficient travel across high seas, Reixach said. The only other way to get them to the continent would be getting pushed by tugboat, which is a slow and possibly dangerous process. “You get into heavy seas, and some of these things would just wash over and sink,” he said. In order to get the 512-foot Kang Sheng Kou in port and create space for it to pick up the lift boats, dredge crews basically had to dig a 75-foot-deep, 700-foot-long hole in the middle of the port’s turning basin, Reixach said. To get the lift boats safely on board, the semisubmersible vessel was positioned over the 75-foot hole and literally sunk down, Reixach said. Freeport Launch crews then guided the lift boats to the sunken semisubmersible vessel for loading before it was raised. “Port Freeport is one of a few U.S. ports capable of handling this sophisticated type of operation,” Port Freeport Port Commission Chairman James F. Brown Jr. said. “We like to do this operation because of the economic impact generated for the local economy.” Port Freeport partnered with numerous companies to pull off the operation without issue. “This highly technical operation requires skilled labor, generating jobs for all types of professions,” Freeport Launch Vice President John Hoss said in a statement e-mailed to The Facts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2009 The Facts