Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 16, 2026)

cover feature

Port of Corpus Christi “[Clients of the port] all want the same thing: ease in and out of the waterway, quick time to their dock, as little time on their dock as possible, and getting back out of here because shipping is incredibly expensive right now. We heard numbers to the tune of $13 million to charter a VLCC, for example, from here going to the far east. That’s an astronomical number. So quick in, ef? cient loading, quick out is important to them.”

Kent Britton, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi points to a telling indicator: more crude moved with fewer operational outcomes: ships, re? ecting improved transit ? uidity and less congestion. • Reduced dwell time in the overall transit

And with capability comes optionality. With improved navi- • Faster turns at berth gation infrastructure, the Port can credibly evaluate cargo and • Less demurrage from waiting offshore vessel classes that previously sat outside its sweet spot — con- • More vessel calls handled per dock per year tainer services, cruise calls, and additional industrial ? ows — (through productivity and reliability) while still being anchored in energy. Britton’s “customer-led” approach means the Port watches for clear demand signals before committing major capital — particularly for projects that would be dif? cult to repur-

Capital Priorities: pose. That conservative posture doesn’t mean slow; it means

Customer-Led and Focused on Throughput

After you complete a generational channel project, the next intentional.

Looking out ? ve to ten years, he sees priorities like dock up- question is always: what’s next?

Britton’s answer is practical and disciplined. Corpus Christi grades (to fully “commercialize” the deeper channel), poten- tial rail improvements and yard capacity, and the possibility is a landlord port — its customers operate the terminals — and of a new turning basin to handle longer vessels that can now the Port authority’s job is to provide the infrastructure and wa- enter the channel but may not be able to turn ef? ciently in the terway reliability that makes those operators more productive.

So the metrics that matter aren’t abstract port KPIs; they’re inner harbor without additional geometry.

32 A New Wave Media Publication • www.marinelink.com • www.oedigital.com 2026_PortoftheFuture_18-33.indd 32 2026_PortoftheFuture_18-33.indd 32 3/3/2026 3:53:04 PM3/3/2026 3:53:04 PM