On any given day, vessels loaded with cargo appear to effortlessly glide over the deep Gulf Coast waters on their way to the only deepwater seaport on the U.S.- Mexico border led by one of the four Brazos Santiago Pilots Association (BSPA) harbor pilots. Captains Gene R. Tuttle, Chris Urbanovsky, Jonathan P. Willett and Grant S. Wilson are tasked with safeguarding the waterways of the Brownsville Navigation District and Port Isabel-San Benito Navigation District while guiding vessels in and out of the 17-mile long Brownsville Ship Channel with unmatched knowledge and expertise.
Since its grand opening in 1936, vessels from around the world have called on the Port of Brownsville to deliver essential goods supporting a wide range of industries throughout North America. Eighty five years later the port continues to be the leading economic driver of the Rio Grande Valley. In 2020, despite the economic challenges brought by a world-wide pandemic, the port recorded a banner year with a record-setting 11.6 million short tons of cargo moved through the port’s terminals.
"We are an essential part of keeping products moving through the Port of Brownsville, keeping the steel mills in Mexico going, keeping up the fuel supply. Every day that the channel is shut down and traffic isn’t moving it’s a huge cost to the customer and the economy," BSPA presiding officer Captain Willett said.
