Port Fourchon Harbor Police
Port Fourchon Harbor Police patrol the Greater Lafourche Port Commission’s jurisdiction, including Port Fourchon and the South Lafourche Leonard Miller, Jr. Airport, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, both by land and water. They also continuously monitor the port, airport, and other GLPC facilities via a closed-circuit video surveillance system with feed from a multitude of strategically located cameras installed throughout the Port Commission’s areas of operation.
Port Fourchon’s Harbor Police are highly trained in incident response and command and are prepared to handle the smallest complaints, such as keys locked in a car, to the highest threats of environmental or catastrophic consequence. They provide vessel escorts, assist port users, and enforce port ordinances.
Harbor Police take as their primary mission the protection of port users from all threats and dangers presented, and they work closely with other federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to ensure that port users operate in the safest, most secure environment possible.
For more information on our Harbor Police force and their duties, see the resources below:
HARBOR POLICE VESSEL ESCORT POLICY
US Customs and Border Protection
US Customs and Border Protection operates a full service customs office with the ability to check and clear both US and foreign vessels in Port Fourchon. This service has provided convenient, timely, and cost efficient import/export opportunities for new companies or companies who have previously sought customs services at more distant entry ports.
Port Fourchon does not require river pilots to usher ships into the port. First arrivals to Port Fourchon may choose a river pilot from a vessel agent or may take advantage of an escort by the Harbor Police. In either case, the fees are dramatically lower than Port of New Orleans fees. This may save thousands of dollars in entry service fees. For smaller importing companies, saving these fees makes Port Fourchon the most feasible entry port in the Gulf region.
Vessel entry bonds and cargo entry bonds can be obtained from vessel agents.
A listing of basic customs forms required upon entry at Port Fourchon can be acquired from the national Customs and Border Protection service website linked below.
US Coast Guard
TWIC Information
The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Program is a security program of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) designed to prevent unescorted access to secure areas of the nation’s maritime transportation system. Several facilities and companies in Port Fourchon require enrollment in the TWIC program.
Please visit the TWIC Enrollment website below for information about the TWIC program or to apply online for a TWIC card, schedule an appointment, find a TWIC office location, or get a replacement card.
To call for TWIC information, dial (855) 347-8371 to reach the TWIC Call Center.
*Please note that this automated line is the only phone number for TWIC information; there is no direct phone number to local TWIC offices. You must either call the automated line, enroll online, or visit your TWIC office in person. Port Commission staff cannot answer questions about your TWIC card.*
Local Enrollment Center - Houma
TNT-Thatcher Building
IdentoGO
309 Goode Street, Suite A
Houma, LA 70360
Open Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
*NOTE: As TWIC is a TSA program and not run through GLPC, we are not always informed of the latest location and hours of operation for the local enrollment center. Please confirm TWIC office locations and hours of operation on the TWIC website’s “Enrollment Center Locator” page before visiting. Enter PORT FOURCHON, LA in the search box to find information on local TWIC centers.
Firefighting Services
Lafourche Parish Fire District #3
Lafourche Parish Fire District #3 services the Port Fourchon area, with jurisdiction from north Larose to the Jefferson Parish boundary line. Having firefighting and emergency services on site in Port Fourchon adds to port preparedness and safety.
Fire district personnel are trained and equipped to assist with any emergency situation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Firefighters undergo specialized training to fit the growing and changing needs of Port Fourchon and surrounding areas. Such training includes rappelling and rope rescue from elevated structures as well as confined rescue to assist workers trapped in confined spaces.
The fire district consists of both paid employees and firefighting volunteers and is coordinated by Fire Central Dispatch, a state-of-the-art telecommunications center. Fire Central dispatches for Lafourche Parish Fire District #3 and Lafourche Ambulance District #1, answering emergency calls and calls for service throughout the port area.
Emergencies can be reported by dialing 911. For non-emergency calls, dial 985-632-8068 to reach Lafourche Parish Fire District #3.
Lafourche Parish Fire District #3’s Port Fourchon Fire Station is located at 412 A.J. Estay Road, centrally located to handle emergencies. An additional fire engine and firefighting equipment are staged at the Port Commission’s Fourchon EOC building, near the entrance to the port at 180B A.O. Rappelet Road.
Medical Services
Emergencies can be reported by dialing 911. For all non-emergency medical service calls, see below local medical services providers that service the Port Fourchon area:
Lafourche Ambulance District #1
Contact: Ms. Deborah Gautreaux
17078 West Main Street
Cut Off, LA 70345
Emergencies: 911 or (985) 632-7191
Phone: (985) 632-7192
Fax: (985) 632-7198
Acadian Ambulance
Contact: Mr. Steven Kuiper
P.O. Box 3500
Houma, LA 70361
Phone: (337) 267-3333
Fax: (985) 876-8719
Lady of the Sea Hospital
Main Phone Line: (985) 632-6401
Emergency Room Contact Number: (985) 632-8257
Lady of the Sea General Hospital is an acute-care inpatient hospital which provides a variety of services to the South Lafourche community. Lady of the Sea Hospital is located approximately 35 miles from Port Fourchon. This hospital is well-equipped for emergency treatment of marine-related accidents and other necessary medical treatment. A helicopter landing pad is adjacent to the hospital for emergency services.
US Department of Homeland Security
US Immigration Services
Port Fourchon provides a reference directory of the immigration and services available through the US State Department and the US Immigration Services. Initially, the State Department is the entity of the US government that is chiefly responsible for determining eligibility and issuing visas for entry to the US. Visas are not issued through the Department of Homeland Security.
CLICK HERE TO OBTAIN STATE DEPARTMENT INFORMATION ON VISAS
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, under the Department of Homeland Security, provides a visa and immigration portal – a web information center to help navigate immigration and visa issues and security clearances. Click below to access the portal.
E-Slip
The E-Slip, a 500-foot-wide slip with legs between 24 and 28 feet deep, is situated on 400 acres of elevated land in the heart of Port Fourchon, providing over 18,600 linear feet of developed waterfront property and meeting a wide range of mineral exploration and production needs.
Northern Expansion
When the Port Commission realized that deepwater Gulf of America development would place unprecedented demand on port property, they began searching for a way to grow the port. Expanding north of the E-Slip development was the most feasible and cost-effective option, so the Port Commission acquired 4,000 acres north of the E-Slip, obtained the necessary permits to start construction, and began an aggressive port expansion effort.
Phase I of Port Fourchon’s Northern Expansion project, which included Slip A and Slip B, is complete. Slip A is 700 feet wide, nearly 2000 feet long, and 27 feet deep. Slip B is 700 feet wide, 7000 feet long, and 27 feet deep.
Construction of Slip C began in 2011. Slip C is 700 feet wide, 7000 feet long, and 27 feet deep. Multiple Slip C bulkhead projects are underway. Slip C adds over 15,000 linear feet of waterfront and 400 acres of developed property in Port Fourchon. With the addition of Slip C, Port Fourchon has 74,340 total linear feet of waterfront property (over 14 miles).
The bucket dredging project for Slip D began in 2015, carving out the next phase of port expansion. The port’s newest slip is 1,000 feet wide and nearly 4,000 feet long, a departure from the dimensions of Slips B and C (700 feet wide and 7,000 feet long) in response to the needs of the offshore supply vessels who frequent Port Fourchon. Slip D adds nearly 200 acres of developed property to the port and over 10,000 linear feet of waterfront in Port Fourchon.
Belle Pass and Other Port Waterways
The port area encompasses many favorable water-related characteristics. One is the well-defined port entrance, Belle Pass, which is bordered by rock jetties that extend 2,600 feet into the Gulf of America.
Within this 1,200 foot wide jetty system, the water is 27 feet deep, and the channel located in the center of Belle Pass is 300 feet wide.
Inland of the jetty system, within the port, the Bayou Lafourche channel is 24 feet deep and 300 feet wide.
Pass Fourchon, a secondary channel which branches off Belle Pass at its intersection with Bayou Lafourche, is 24 feet deep and 300 feet wide.
The E-Slip development is 24 feet deep throughout, with widths of 400 feet in the first leg and 500 feet in legs two and three.
Flotation Canal is 24 feet deep and 600 feet wide.
The Northern Expansion development is 24 feet deep throughout. Slips A, B, and C are 700 feet wide. Slip D is 1,000 feet wide.
As industry has moved into deepwater Gulf exploration and development, necessitating larger, deeper draft vessels, the Greater Lafourche Port Commission has responded with larger, wider, and deeper channels and is committed to continuing to make channel improvements to most efficiently meet Port Fourchon users’ needs.
LOOP
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the nation’s only deepwater port, is located eighteen miles southeast of Port Fourchon and uses the port as its land base. Constructed by a group of major oil and pipeline companies in 110 feet of water, LOOP serves as the central unloading and distribution point for all incoming supertankers to the Gulf region.
Large supertankers continuously offload millions of barrels of crude oil into the LOOP pipeline. The oil then travels north to the Galliano Salt Dome in Lafourche Parish, where it is stored and piped to 50% of this nation’s refining capacity. LOOP handles approximately 10% of the country’s imported oil and about 10% of the nation’s domestic oil.
