The first ship to use the new berth was the MS Toledo, a 199-metre roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessel operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Docking at the West Port Cargo Complex on July 2, the vessel unloaded heavy construction equipment shipped from Brazil and Asia. The machinery will now be transported by truck to customers across Texas and other parts of the United States.
The new berth, stretching 429.7 metres along Pier 39-40, is the centrepiece of a redevelopment project that began in 2024 and has now been completed.
The work went well beyond building a new berth. The port also modernized its cargo facilities by enclosing two ageing slips, filling one of them, resurfacing cargo handling areas and removing a decommissioned grain elevator to make room for future operations.
These improvements have expanded the port’s cargo terminal from around 24.2 hectares to nearly 36.4 hectares, giving operators significantly more space to handle freight and accommodate future business.
The project was financed through the port’s own operating revenues, with additional support from a $36 million grant provided by the Texas Department of Transportation. Plans are already in place for a second phase, which will fill another slip and add approximately 2.4 hectares of new operational space.
For Port Director and CEO Rodger Rees, the investment represents a turning point for the port’s cargo business.
He said it is the first major investment in cargo infrastructure the Port of Galveston has made in decades and was driven by growing demand from customers.
According to Rees, the expansion will help attract additional cargo, create hundreds of new jobs and deliver significant economic benefits to both the port and the surrounding region. The extra space will also allow the port to diversify its operations by handling cargoes that previously could not be accommodated.
Located on Galveston Harbor, one of the busiest commercial waterways in the United States, the Port of Galveston currently handles around three million tonnes of general cargo and breakbulk freight each year, including ro-ro shipments and wind turbine components.
