Galveston Cruise Terminal 16 Earns LEED Silver Certification
Built from former warehouses, Terminal 16 reuses about eighty-five percent of existing structural elements and can handle up to five thousand passengers at a time.
The Port of Galveston’s Cruise Terminal 16 has earned LEED Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, making it the second cruise terminal at the port with a LEED credential. Galveston Wharves also received Green Marine recertification for a fifth consecutive year, extending a portwide environmental certification it first achieved in 2021.
The port is expanding its cruise berthing and terminal capacity for MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line. Cruise passenger movements at Galveston are forecast to reach 3.9 million in 2026, compared with 1.9 million in 2017.
“We’re especially proud of this award because it’s another milestone in our progress as a Green Marine-certified port,” Rodger Rees, port director and CEO of Galveston Wharves, said, citing work to improve air quality, reduce waste and reduce other waterfront impacts.
Terminal reused former warehouse structures
Cruise Terminal 16 was developed by converting former warehouses into a 165,000-square-foot terminal and reusing about 85 percent of existing structural elements, reducing the need for new materials. The facility can handle up to 5,000 passengers at a time, including simultaneous embarkation and debarkation flows.
The port cited energy-efficient building systems, water-saving fixtures, lower-impact construction materials, a reduced parking footprint, reduced outdoor-lighting impacts and water-efficient landscaping among the project features. The terminal also includes passenger boarding bridges and a seven-story parking garage with capacity for more than 1,600 vehicles.
Rees said the port worked with Bermello Ajamil & Partners and Hensel Phelps to deliver the cruise complex “on time and on budget.” He said Terminal 16 gives the port’s 46-million-person drive market additional cruise options from MSC and Norwegian and “meets cruise industry needs for future growth.”
Galveston now has two LEED-certified cruise terminals
Terminal 16 joins Cruise Terminal 10, the Royal Caribbean terminal at Galveston, which holds LEED Gold, LEED Zero Energy and LEED Zero Carbon certifications. LEED Silver is the 50-to-59-point tier in the USGBC rating system. Gold begins at 60 points.
Galveston’s growing cruise business
Galveston is the fourth-busiest cruise home port in North America, with four terminals. The port serves year-round ships from Carnival, MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean, with seasonal deployments from Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line.
In 2023, cruise operations generated $733 million in local business revenue, supported 4,547 jobs and contributed $25 million in state and local taxes.
Green Marine recertification covers portwide performance
The Green Marine recertification covers environmental performance beyond the new terminal. The voluntary maritime program requires annual self-evaluation against environmental indicators, publication of individual results and independent external verification every two years.
MSC Cruises holds a 20-year concession for Terminal 16 running from 2025 to 2045, and the facility opened on Nov. 7, 2025, with the arrival of MSC Seascape. Norwegian Cruise Line is scheduled to begin using Terminal 16 in December 2026.
See cruises departing Galveston on Cruise Lookup.
