Port fortifies military ties with new building Director’s note

Port ready to navigate

rough economic seas
The head-
lines have been
dismal in recent
months as a
bundle of eco-
nomic crises
ripple through
world markets.
Despite the
downturn, the Fisher
Port of Beaumont continues full
steam ahead with nearly $60 million
in strategic improvements—based
on sound, bold vision—that will help
the port weather the market storms
that may appear on the horizon.
The last quarter of 2008 saw
completion of a new $5.4 million
military office building to consolidate
military staff at the port into one
operations center.
The port kicked off 2009 with the
arrival of a new, $5.3 million, 140-
HEADQUARTERS: Ceremony attendees tour the port’s new military office building in November. The $5.4 mil-
lion facility houses the U.S. Surface Deployment and Distribution Command’s 842nd Transportation Battalion. ton mobile harbor crane. Our $16
million rail expansion project will

Homeport security also get under way this year.

By the end of 2009, the port will
have a new 650-foot wharf on the
east bank of the Sabine-Neches
Waterway with an adjoining 20-acre
New military building boasts latest storm– and terror-resistant designs storage yard.
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R, 2nd plying military equipment and The office building is fortified The port always actively seeks
District of Texas) and U.S. Army resources to sustain U.S. forces with the latest anti-terrorist con- additional business and these im-
Col. Craig B. Hymes – com- in action worldwide. struction methods including provements are attractive assets to
mander of the U.S. Surface De- The new building consolidates crash-resistant fencing and potential customers. As these
ployment and Distribution Com- military personnel at the port and gates, said architect Dohn changes take effect we are optimis-
mand’s 597th Transportation provides training and growth Labiche, principal with the tic that the port will be properly posi-
Group – joined state and local opportunities. The facility’s com- LaBiche Architectural Group, tioned to come through this eco-
officials to officially open the Port pletion also brings the battalion who designed the structure. The nomic downturn and emerge
of Beaumont’s new military office in compliance with the U.S. De- building is also has hurricane- stronger and in an even better posi-
building during a Nov. 13 cere- partment of Defense’s force pro- resistant window systems and tion to serve our community.
mony. tection and security require- can handle wind loads of up to
The two-story, 27,000 square- ments, battalion commander 150 mph, Labiche said.
foot building was completed in U.S. Army Lt. Col. Marshall Ram- The office building is one of David C. Fisher
October at a cost of about $5.4 sey said. several projects in the port’s Director, Port of Beaumont
million. The facility will serve as “In the post-9/11 world, extra aggressive capital improvement
headquarters for the U.S. Sur- security is required of all Depart- program worth nearly $60 million.
face Deployment and Distribution ment of Defense activities,” Ram- Others include a new wharf on THIS ISSUE:
Command’s 842nd Transporta- sey said prior to the ceremony. the east side of the Sabine- (Air)Port of
tion Battalion. “Previously, with our split posture Neches Waterway and a new $5 Beaumont
The battalion is part of the and our location next to Main million 140-ton harbor crane. Snow as ammo
command’s 597th Transportation Street, we were not meeting the Port scenes
Group, which is tasked with sup- requirements.” Continued on page 7

Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas

● 1225 Main Street ● Beaumont, Texas 77701 ●
● (409) 835-5367 ● (409) 835-0512 FAX ●
Online at www.portofbeaumont.com
 P O R T E N T E R S A V I A T I O N H I S T O R Y

SOARING INTO HISTORY: Crew members look on as the Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT takes flight from Lot. No. 10 at the Port of Beaumont
on October 17 en route to a layover at the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Nederland. The moment marked the first Zeppelin flight in
U.S. skies since the Hindenburg’s fiery crash at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey in 1937. (Photo by Image Specialists)

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 ABOVE: Crew members check the ropes har-
nessing the Zeppelin NT before they roll it out
from the M.V. Combi Dock I.
BELOW: Zeppelin pilot Fritz Günther monitors
the winds. Wind speeds had to average less
than 10 mph for a smooth rollout.

A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship first designed by German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The first
Zeppelin flew in 1900, and the airships were used both during peacetime and war until they went out of use at the start of
World War II. The next Zeppelin test flights took place in Germany in 1997. Commercial service began there in 2001.
Source: Zeppelin, online interactive from the University of Colorado at Boulder

TOP: Longshoremen and crews with Deutsche

Zeppelin Reederei load the Zeppelin NT onto
the M.V. Combi Dock I in Finkenwerder, Ger-
many in September. After more than two
weeks at sea, the Zeppelin arrived at the Port
of Beaumont on Oct. 11.

ABOVE: The Zeppelin traveled from Germany

to the Port of Beaumont stowed in the cargo
hold of the M.V. Combi Dock I. The ship was
turned to align with the port’s RO/RO ramp and
some containers were removed before the
Zeppelin and accompanying parts could be
offloaded.

RIGHT: Longshoremen offload one of the Zep-

pelin’s rudders from the cargo hold of the M.V.
Combi Dock I.

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TOP: The Zeppelin rolls out from the cargo hold
of the M.V. Combi Dock I on Oct. 12. Long-
shoremen and crews were helped along by a
mastwagen, or a truck with a tall post that at-
taches to the Zeppelin to anchor it in place.

MIDDLE: Workers peel the covering off of a

rudder to reveal the Zeppelin’s N-number be-
fore hoisting and attaching the apparatus to the
airship.

BOTTOM: Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei’s

maintenance crew attaches a rudder to the rear
of the Zeppelin after the airship was anchored
in place at the port.

DON’T CALL IT A BLIMP . . .

A Zeppelin is known as a “rigid air-
ship,” meaning the envelope—the
giant bladder-like formation that
helps the airship float—keeps its
shape because of a metallic frame
underneath. Inside that frame are
bags that are filled with gas to help
the airship float.
The term blimp typically refers to
non-rigid airships. Blimps depend on
the pressure of the gas to keep their
envelopes inflated and help them fly.
Because there is no metal frame, a
blimp’s engines must be mounted to
the gondola, or cabin.
Source: Airship Ventures

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The crew that worked on the Zeppelin in Germany placed their signatures on a
farewell note to the airship. The message reads: “Zeppelin NT SN004 D-LZNT
(ex); loaded Sept. 26th on vessel Combi Dock I in Finkenwerder (Germany).
Good bye, young lady! See you in America”
Zeppelin pilot Katharine Board stands by as KFDM photogra-
pher Jack Fitch counts down to a live shot. Board, pilot Fritz
Günther and Airship Ventures president Brian Hall all partici-
pated in live television interviews while the airship was docked
at the port.

From Southeast Texas, the Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT made six stops at points in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and
California and capped off its eight-day journey with a flight through Golden Gate Pass en route to its new home in the
San Francisco Bay area. Passenger flight service began in late October. To date, Airship Ventures operates the Zeppelin
on flight routes across the San Francisco-Oakland area and Northern California’s wine country.

After a few hours of weather delays, the Zeppelin lifts off about 2 p.m. on Oct. 17 (left) and soars past the flags in front of the administration building.

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TOUCHDOWN: An Airship Ventures crew member reaches to connect one of the Zeppelin’s cables to its mastwagen as another rolls a staircase to the
gondola to unload the crew after the airship successfully floated to a rest at the Southeast Texas Regional Airport on Oct. 17. The soft landing ended
the first Zeppelin flight in American skies since the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Crews anchored the airship at the airport for an overnight stay before
departing for San Antonio—the first stop on its journey to California.

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Continued from page 1
CEREMONY

The crane arrived in January.

The federal government
will lease the building for the
next several years, which
reaffirms the Port of Beau-
mont’s importance in military
logistics.
The military has been a
loyal port customer since
1952.
Today, the port is the larg-
est military port in the United
States and the second largest
in the world, and has handled
about one half of all the cargo
shipped in support of opera-
tions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
RIBBON CUTTING: (left to
right) Port director Chris
Fisher; N&T Construction
owner Charlie Jabbia; board
secretary-treasurer Georgine
Guillory; U.S. Army Lt. Col.
Marshall Ramsey; Commis-
sioner Lee Smith; Don
Labiche, architect; Col.
Craig B. Hymes; Commis-
sioner Nell Clark; board vice
president Henry Nix; U.S.
Rep. Ted Poe and board
president Pete Shelton.

THE VIPs: (from left to right) U.S. Army Lt. Col. Marshall Ramsey, 842nd Transportation Battalion commander, U.S. Army Col. Craig B. Hymes,
597th Transportation Group commander, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe and port board president Pete Shelton look on as invited guests take their seats.

THE REPS: (From left) Aaron Evans, senior business manager, Union Pacific
Railroad; Audra Malotte, customer care manager, Union Pacific; Sharon
Reeves, general director, Kansas City Southern Railroad; Fran Willis, traffic
management specialist, 842nd Battalion; John Pinard Jr., sales manager,
BNSF Railway; John Roby, port customer service director
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U.S. Rep. Ted Poe talks with KBTV’s Ericka English about the im-
portance of the Port of Beaumont’s new military facility as KBTV pho-
tographer Chip Fields films the interview. Poe and Col. Craig B.
Hymes took time to talk with area media representatives present after
the ribbon cutting.
Port scenes
TALKING HISTORY
World War II veteran and Beau-
mont resident Louis Knabeschuh
(right), does a few lines about his
experience as a sailor aboard the
USS Lubbock to documentary pro-
ducer Rick Mize of the Lubbock
Independent School District’s LISD-
TV with the M.V. Cape Vincent and
M.V. Cape Victory as backdrops on
Nov. 8.
Mize is creating a documentary
about the history of the Lubbock,
which was named for the Texas
Panhandle city. The U.S. Navy
acquired the ship in October 1944.
Knabeschuh was aboard the Lub-
bock when the ship carried Marines
and supplies to the historic storming
of Iwo Jima in February 1945 and
ferried casualties from that battle to
Okinawa following the invasion.

MILESTONE(S)

Happy Birthday
PORT OF BEAUMONT!
(But is this your 60th or 93rd?)

“IT’S GOTTA BE PERFECT!”: Port utility man Kenneth Lynch (left)

helps port sales secretary Peggy Burris tie and arrange a red, white and
blue bow as they decorate in preparation for the ribbon cutting ceremony
at the port’s new military office building in November.

DOUBLE,
DOUBLE TOIL
AND TROUBLE,
PAY THOSE
BILLS OR I’LL
REDUCE YOU TO
RUBBLE: Director
of finance Brenda
Whitworth was the
only brave soul at
the Port of Beau-
The answer is both. The Port of Beaumont Navigation Dis- mont to don a cos-
trict of Jefferson County, Texas — the independent, taxing tume on Hallow-
entity that the port is today — was created by the 51st Texas een. Trade and
Legislature in 1949. However, the port traces its roots to a few development direc-
decades earlier. tor Ernest Bezdek
snapped this photo
A new channel along the Neches River linking the downtown just before he
Beaumont waterfront with the Port Arthur Ship Channel was dashed and hid in
completed in 1908. It was by 1916 that local businessmen com- his office to avoid
pleted dock facilities and navigation improvements along the her wrath.
river, and steady ship traffic increased at Beaumont.

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The Port of Beaumont recognized six employees who have
reached anniversary milestones in their service to the port From the archives
during the annual service and safety awards ceremony in No-
vember.
The following employees were honored:

35 years
Kenneth Tarnow
Maintenance carpenter
30 years
Bill Carpenter
Deputy port director
25 years
Randy Spell
Crane operator
20 years
Kenneth Hebert
Utility man
15 years
Creig Blanchard
Working foreman
10 years WINTER WONDERLAND: A blanket of fresh snow covers the Port of
Ernest Bezdek Beaumont, looking north from the present-day Harbor Island Marine Ter-
Trade development director minal, in this photo dated Jan. 12, 1973. (See page 10 for scenes from
Southeast Texas’ most recent snow event.)

HELPING HAND: Longshoremen load pallets of bagged SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS: Port utility foreman Creig Blanchard (left)
lentils, split peas and flour onto the M/V TSGT John A Chap- and utility man Kenneth Lynch ring the ground near Santa’s feet with
man. The food was shipped to Algeria, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Christmas lights to prepare the port for the Christmas holidays.
Sudan and several humanitarian groups.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: A flock of seagulls takes flight after being startled by the horn from the Port of Beaumont train engine nearby. The
M/V Advantage is docked at the Main Street Wharves in the background.
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 An unusually cold air mass swept into Southeast Texas during the second week
of December. On Dec. 11, area residents woke up to a blanket of snow between
3 and 6 inches deep across the region. The snowfall shattered several records
for Beaumont: the earliest snowfall on record for the fall/winter season, the most
ever for the month of December and the first major accumulation since 1973,
according to the National Weather Service.
TOP: The port’s Christmas decorations rise from a layer of snow a few inches
thick coats the entrance on Dec. 11. The snow was mostly gone by noon that
day.
LEFT: Port director Chris Fisher prepares to mount a winter offensive against
the photographer. He missed, but may have been taking it easy on the photog-
rapher.
BELOW: Snowfall left aggregate mounds at the port’s Kinder Morgan bulk termi-
nal resembling gleaming mountain peaks.

Port of Beaumont Navigation District

of Jefferson County, Texas
MISSION STATEMENT: The Port of Beaumont Navigation District of Jefferson County,
Texas is responsible to the taxpayers of its district for the improvement of navigation and the
development of maritime shipping and waterborne related commerce to and from its wharves;
and for maintenance, development, extension and improvement of wharf and dock facilities of
the Port of Beaumont to promote economic growth in our district, the State of Texas and in
the interest of national defense.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS STAFF

C.A. “Pete” Shelton, president David C. Fisher, port director
H.M. “Henry” Nix, Jr., vice president Bill Carpenter, deputy director
Georgine Guillory, secretary-treasurer Ernest L. Bezdek, trade development director
Floy Nell Clark John Roby, customer service director
Louis Broussard, Jr. Kirby Dartez, operations director
Lee E. Smith Al Matulich, dock superintendent
Sam Serio, maintenance supervisor
Brenda Whitworth, finance director
Janet Floyd, human resources manager
Norman Reynolds, port authority police chief
Mike D. Smith, public relations manager
Comments, questions and suggestions about this publication should be directed to Mike D. Smith, at (409) 835-5367 or mds@portofbeaumont.com.

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