When the first cargo vessel was docking at the new Port of Brownsville in 1936, a young Richard L. Ostos was there to catch a line thrown from the vessel. Eighty years later, his grandson R. Lee Ostos is a major presence at the same port as president of Dix Shipping, the region’s largest and oldest stevedoring and steamship agent.

In the years between, what began as Dick’s Shipping made a name for itself as an innovator on the Gulf Intracoastal Canal in the handling of bulk minerals, investing in specialty equipment. In the 1960s, Ostos pioneered the shipment of millions of cartons of Mexican citrus to Germany and then added Valley produce. Although he retired in 1962, the founding Ostos remained a welcome presence after his sons Lee and Bobby took over,

In 2010, the third generation – cousins Lee and Bobby – purchased the company from their fathers.  Lee is the managing partner in Brownsville, while Bobby is the managing partner at the Port of Corpus Christi.

“It’s basically a handling business, bulk and break bulk (such as steel coils, 25-ton steel slabs, pig iron or aluminum).  We do a lot of logistics,” Lee said.  He acknowledged the romance of the tramp steamer is long gone, and he himself has only traveled on a cargo ship down the Brownsville Ship Channel.

Dix Shipping is a stevedoring business that supplies the longshoremen to dock, load and unload ships once they arrive in port. “It’s not an 8-5 job. It’s a seven-days-a-week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. job. When vessels are in port, they don’t want to sit around waiting.”  Dix hires as many as 120 longshoremen from the local union hall for each vessel which typically is docked for two or three days.  Dix supplies the cranes, forklifts and equipment used to move the cargo on and off the ship.

As a steamship agent, Dix manages the care of a ship when it comes into port, from coordinating the channel pilot and tug boats and processing documentation for importing the cargo to notifying immigration authorities. Dix agents board the vessel whatever time it arrives.   Seeing to the well-being of a ship and its crews, Dix may schedule a chandler to deliver any goods the crew needs or may arrange for a seaman to see a doctor or dentist.  The port’s Seamen’s Center offers crews the chance to get off the ship and even go shopping.

Because the port does not have the infrastructure to handle container ships as Houston and Long Beach do, Dix focuses on serving niche markets. “We’re the closest port to Monterrey, a huge industrial center, and we’re really competitive for cargo going to north Mexico,” Ostos said. He explained that ships coming to the Port of Brownsville have been chartered to deliver or pick up cargo. Houston, in contrast, will have more corporate liners that make trips between certain ports.  While Intracoastal barges carry domestic cargo between American ports, the freighters sail under foreign flags and their cargos originate overseas or are destined for other nations.

The closest port Dix deals with is five days’ transit away, while ships from the Far East take about 45 days to reach Brownsville.  Although ship arrival is sporadic (between 6-8 are handled most months), they arrive with plenty of advance notice.

Some charter vessels arrive here with no next port of call, Ostos said.  After unloading, they will anchor offshore to avoid paying port fees. Dix provides bills of lading for outbound cargo. Ocean-going vessels comprise 70% of the port’s traffic while the rest is intracoastal barges, usually carrying sand and gravel.

The port of Brownsville opened a new dock last year, and Dix has continued to upgrade and add new equipment, for example, heavy duty cranes to handle wind turbine components. Ostos said port cargo has shifted over the years. Citrus and vegetables no longer go by sea.  Previously 90% of port traffic was going to or from Monterrey.  Now, regional energy projects are a significant factor with the port handling components for wind, gas and oil operations.

Dix Shipping owns Brownsville Gulfside Warehouse which includes 10 acres of open storage, 10 warehouses totaling 485,000 square feet, a rail spur and foreign trade zone classification.

A new, German-owned foundry slated for Brownsville will change the makeup of cargo, too, Ostos said. “We see them having to import equipment for the factory itself. And they are going to have to import some (raw) product.”

Proposals to deepen the ship channel would allow ships 15% larger than the ones now entering the port.

For more information, see dixshipping.com. 

This story by Eileen Mattei appears in the March 2016 edition of Valley Business Report