Port Houston Container Terminals Reopened After ‘Hardware Failure’

Port Houston says its two container terminals have reopened after a “hardware failure” halted operations on Tuesday.

Truck traffic and access to the port’s terminal operating system, N4, and it’s customer service portal, Lynx, were restored Thursday. An update on Friday said Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals are now fully open and will have extended gate hours.

Problems at the port’s Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals began Tuesday morning after a major failure of storage devices supporting applications critical to terminal operations. Ships that were already in progress were able to continue working, but operations new vessels were not been possible. Truck gates at both container facilities were also idled.

Port Houston’s executive director, Roger Guenther, explained the situation in a letter to customer and stakeholders and made clear that the incident is not related to a cyber attack.

Port Houston’s Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals handle about two-thirds of all the containerized cargo in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Like other container ports around the country, the port has seen a continued surge of imports since rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic. Year-to-date through June, the Port Houston has recorded 1,607,793 TEUs for a 13% increase over last year.

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