Operations at the Port of Houston’s two container terminals suspended suspended operations due to a “hardware failure.”
The failure prevented the terminals from processing transactions, with the port’s executive director emphasizing that “this is not a cyber-attack on the Port Houston operating system.”
As the port informs, the problem started on July 27, experiencing a major failure of the storage devices that support all of the applications used to operate.
After the first failure the port moved to a redundant set of storage devices, which also failed and the terminals have been unable to process any transactions since then.
Ships that were already at the terminals continued working, but terminals cannot process new vessels. As a result, more than a dozen cargo ships are waiting at the anchor at the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel.
Commenting on the situation, the port said that port staff working with contractors now have the necessary hardware but “configuration and restoration of all the components has been a slow process.”
The port also plans to extend daily gate hours after operations resume and will also operate weekend gates to recoup on any backlogs that are developing during this period.
