PENDING DEAL WOULD BOOST PORT CAPACITY; CARGO SHIPMENTS AT ALL-TIME HIGH.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

The first phase of a major port expansion has pushed cargo shipments to an all-time high, and a recent move by Congress is expected to add to the growing port's capacity.

The Port of Hueneme, California's fourth-busiest harbor, handled more than 1 million tons of cargo in the year ending June 30, a 32 percent increase from the year before.

And new construction and a pending deal to use nearby Navy docks will significantly boost the port's cargo capacity and the region's economy, said Kam Quarles, director of marketing for the Port of Hueneme.

``This activity acts as an economic engine in the county,'' Quarles said. ``There are so many jobs related to the handling of international cargoes. And the longshoremen who are employed here, and the truckers and the suppliers and all the economic spinoff of having this operate at maximum efficiency has a major impact on the economy. And it provides another leg to our economic platform in the area.''

The port's acquisition of 33 acres of Navy real estate has touched off a minor building boom vital to the port's growth. After clearing away some 57 Navy buildings late last year, the port launched an $8 million construction program. The centerpiece of the project is a refrigerated container yard to ship produce, fish and meat across the Pacific.

``Once this new project is complete, it will be a state-of-the-art, modern container terminal,'' Quarles said. The project should be complete by the end of this year.

The acquisition of the additional land allowed the port to bring in Noboa, a company that imports bananas from Ecuador. Thanks to Noboa and Del Monte, which has operated out of the port since 1979, banana cargo shot up 60 percent last year, making the Port of Hueneme the West Coast's top banana importer.

``So that new property has meant a great deal to us. Prior to that we were starving for land,'' Quarles said. ``We're the smallest (California) port in terms of acreage, but we're the fourth most active.''

Although the port is essentially at full capacity now, Quarles said that Congress recently gave the Navy permission to lease unused dock facilities to the port district.

While terms of a joint-use agreement have not yet been spelled out, the opportunity ``is going to be a front-burner item for us because it's really our only opportunity to bring more business in,'' Quarles said. ``We believe (the growth in cargo business) is limited only by the amount of land we are able to provide these international businesses.''

With the help of the Army Corps of Engineers, the port is also in the midst of dredging the harbor from its current 35-foot depth to 40 feet to handle larger cargo ships.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) (Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions only) As part of the expansion at the Port of Hueneme, Sacramento Damian works on a storm drain 

Evan Yee/Daily News