On the waterfront. (The Roving Eye).

IF dockworkers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach think they have a raw deal, at least they're not stuck between the worlds of the living and the dead.

That's the curse a ship full of pirates is trying to break in "Pirates of the Caribbean," a Walt Disney Co. movie in pre-production in the Spruce Goose Dome at the Port of Long Beach. (Other locations within the complex will also be used.)

Based on the Disneyland theme ride, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced feature stars Geoffrey Rush as Capt. Barbossa, in charge of a crew trying to reverse a curse that reveals their skeletons in the moonlight. Johnny Depp plays Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Inside the dome, set builders are putting the finishing touches on cabins and other areas of a 17th century pirate vessel for filming scheduled to begin late this month. (Release is scheduled for summer 2003.)

Among other films that have made use of the 135,000-square-foot Long Beach-owned dome: "Batman & Robin," "Jack Frost," "Vanilla Sky," "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" and "Stargate."

"You can put more than one sound stage in there," said Travis Montgomery, vice president and chief of staff for Long Beach-based Queen's Seaport Development Inc., which operates the 120-foot-high dome and the Queen Mary. "You have no pillars inside that would interfere with anything. That's the big attraction."

The set is comprised of a vessel he said looked to be about 90 feet long with giant masts.

Disney is leasing two-thirds of the facility while construction of the Carnival Cruise Lines passenger terminal is underway in the remaining portion. That work is set to be completed in March 2003.

Meanwhile, another pirate ship built on a barge at the Port of Long Beach is now floating in the waters off the Port of Los Angeles.