About Our Port

Located at the entrance to Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel, the Port of Galveston has been a thriving maritime commercial center since 1825. Just 45 minutes from open seas, the 840-acre port has infrastructure and assets to serve growing cruise, cargo and commercial businesses.

The port is the fourth most popular cruise homeport in the U.S., with more than 3.4 million passengers moving through its cruise terminals a year.

The port also leases and maintains a wide range of cargo facilities on the deep-water Galveston Ship Channel, which is ranked among the top 40 busiest U.S. cargo waterways. Cargos include dry bulk, liquid bulk, general cargo, wind turbine pieces, roll-on/roll-off and new cars.

The Galveston Wharves is a self-sustaining city entity whose mission is to generate and reinvest port revenues to benefit the Galveston community with economic growth, jobs and sales tax revenues.

Public and private terminals on Galveston harbor have a combined $7.3 billion total economic value and generate almost 24,000 jobs statewide. The Galveston Wharves employs a staff of more than 120.

The port staff works to fulfill its environmental, health and safety commitments through expanding programs in partnership with its tenants and other port partners. The port has been certified by the voluntary maritime environmental initiative Green Marine since 2021.

In 2019, the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees adopted the port’s 20-Year Strategic Master Plan to improve and maximize port assets. Initiatives include extensive waterfront rehabilitation work and capital projects, including an interior roadway, the West Port Cargo Complex improvements and expanded cruise facilities.