September Commerce Club Featuring Nicole Rodriguez, Commander, Sector Houston-Galveston, USCG
Rodriguez Discusses Coast Guard’s Role in Maritime Governance
The Port Bureau welcomed Captain Nicole D. Rodriguez, Commander, Sector Houston-Galveston, U.S. Coast Guard (“Coast Guard”), as the featured speaker at the September Commerce Club luncheon.
Sector Houston-Galveston areas of responsibility extend from Freeport, Texas, to Lake Charles, La., and is comprised of over 1,500 activity duty, civilian, and reserve personnel. This area encompasses five of the 20 busiest ports in the nation as well as 247 miles of Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
“Today I'm going to be speaking to you a little bit about the Coast Guard's role in maritime governance … and, I'd ask you to focus as we face new and evolving threats to the global maritime system,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez briefly discussed the history of the Coast Guard’s military service, ultimately describing it as “a law enforcement agency, a government regulatory agency, and a first responder all rolled into one.”
Maritime governance, said Rodriguez, is a “shared space” – the “collaborative space where federal, state, and local authorities meet along with industry to make sure U.S. waterways, ports, and harbors are safe, secure, and environmentally sound.” She also stressed the importance of this collaboration. “This port is a critical port … We are the energy provider of the world in this port.”
“But here,” Rodriguez continued, “we, your Coast Guard, work with our federal, local, and state partners. We also work with all of you in this room – and, all of you in this room work with other federal, state, and local partners and work together every day to execute our search and rescue mission, our security mission, to manage our vessel traffic, ensure environmental protection, and to ensure that commerce can exist and bloom in that shared space.”
“And I can tell you – and tell everybody – I am the luckiest ‘Captain of the Port’ in the world because there is no better place than Houston and the Houston region for partnerships!”
Rodriguez urged attendees to think about how to move forward in the “shared space.”
She encouraged thoughtful consideration of company needs as they grow, particularly when growth accelerates rapidly. She noted that risks, such as aging infrastructure or waterway utilization limitations were important factors to consider. She also named areas such as AI and cyberspace, extreme weather events or occurrences that might disrupt business, security, as well as company staffing as crucial components for long-range planning. Rodriguez stressed the value of establishing partnerships at local, state and federal levels before an emergency or crisis occurs.
Summing up, Rodriguez said, “My promise to you, is that we, the Coast Guard, stand ready to lead in crisis. But our success depends on your success. So together, we must continue to ensure our waterways are safe and secure and continue to move forward in the future.”
Thank you to our Commerce Club sponsors:
Annual Sponsors:
Callan Marine • Chevron/Kirby • Enterprise Products Partners • Kinder Morgan • Houston Pilots • Intercontinental Terminals Company • Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc. • PEMEX • Port Houston • Targa Resources • TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park • WGMA
September Table sponsors: