Port of Hueneme: a choice gateway for Pacific Rim trade.

In 1991, the Port of Hueneme was granted U.S. Customs port of entry status, enhancing its position as a viable harbor choice for Pacific Rim trade. Located about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the port was built in 1939, and is the only deep-water facility between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Port of Hueneme is managed and operated by the Oxnard Harbor District, an autonomous public agency governed by an elected board of harbor commissioners. Since 1978, port operations have been self-financing with no tax assessments.

The Port of Hueneme is a multi-port, with flexible facilities and fast vessel turnaround. Ondock rail service is provided by the Ventura County Railway interconnecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad. The port's prime geographic location offers users a back door to Los Angeles and a gateway to central and northern California markets.

The Oxnard Harbor District is requesting authority from the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Trade Zone Board for the establishment of a general purpose zone on three port-related sites: the seaport itself; 45 acres in South Oxnard, where two automobile processing centers are located; and Terminal Freezers, a nearby cold-storage warehouse.

COOL CARRIERS AND SUNKIST -- PARTNERS IN PROGRESS

A recent expansion is drawing special attention to the port's growing prominence in refrigerated transport. In February, Cool Carriers (USA) Inc. and the port broke ground on a state-of-the-art refrigerated facility. The $10 million, 137,000-square-foot transit shed is being jointly developed by Cool Carriers and the Oxnard Harbor District.

Cool Carriers will bring a wealth of business, prestige and opportunity to the Port of Hueneme when the new terminal opens Jan. 1, 1994. The Port of Hueneme will be the west coast hub for Cool Carriers' Pacific Rim trade.

With a 25% market share of international perishable goods movement, Cool Carriers, Inc. is the world's foremost commercial, refrigerated-vessel operator. The shipping line was lured away from Long Beach, its harbor home for 22 years, by the Oxnard Harbor District's persistence and willingness to accommodate Cool Carriers' unique needs, according to Gerald A. Fountain, president of Cool Carriers (USA).

"In order to better serve Sunkist, whose citrus we carry to Pacific Rim markets, we wanted to build a refrigerated facility," Fountain explained. "Unable to secure an equitable long-term lease from the Port of Long Beach, we turned to the Port of Hueneme. In addition to space and a long-term lease commitment, the Oxnard Harbor District offered a partnership collaboration on the cold storage facility."

Cool Carriers (USA) transports ten million cartons of Sunkist products yearly to Japan, which Fountain expects to reach 13 million cartons annually in 1997. The refrigerated shipping line also imports 100,000 to 120,000 cartons of Bonita bananas from Ecuador weekly and 60,000 to 90,000 metric tons of Australian meat a year.

Changing consumer tastes and more open trade have increased demand for high quality citrus in the Pacific Rim, explained Russell L. Hanlin, president of Sunkist. "At this time of economic concern, it is encouraging to see Cool Carriers and the Port of Hueneme preparing great new harbor facilities to accommodate increased levels of export trade in the future," Hanlin said.

TERMINAL FREEZERS -- A NEIGHBORING ASSET

A key factor in the Port of Hueneme's growth in refrigerated transport is the neighboring presence of Terminal Freezers, Inc., a 230,000-square-foot cold-storage warehouse in the city of Oxnard. According to Skip Kaup, Terminal Freezers' manager, the addition of 100,000 square feet in 1993 will offer shippers expanded storage capacity.

Kaup says the port is "as big an asset to California's transportation infrastructure as it is to Ventura County's local economy. Terminal Freezers enjoys a close working relationship with port management and the port's clients, which works to everyone's benefit when it comes to quality handling of fresh and frozen products for shipping."

"Relocating to Port Hueneme offered a very attractive opportunity to consolidate all of Cool Carriers' U.S. operations in one location," Fountain said. "Previously we had an office in Tampa to facilitate shipments of Australian meat and Florida grapefruit along the eastern seaboard. We were pleasantly surprised to discover Terminal Freezers. They can handle the tonnage of meat we transport and we can take advantage of convenient rail connections for refrigerated transport to the midwest and east coast."

Fountain continued, "Although much of the meat we import is headed to Philadelphia, shipping through the Port of Hueneme has allowed better penetration in western markets. The arrangement also creates a perfect trade loop because we are able to reload the ships with Sunkist citrus bound for Japan."

Among the services Terminal Freezers offers are: full U.S. Department of Agriculture on-site inspection, rail car siding and ability to off-load 17 cars at a time, blast-freezing capability for up to two million pounds a day and customized distribution.

COOL CARRIERS ASSEMBLES PORT HUENEME AMEFC DELEGATION

Cool Carriers (USA) vice-president Capt. Peter Gripenberg will lead a Port of Hueneme-linked delegation to the annual Australian Meat Exporters Federal Council (AMEFC) meeting in August.

"We're assembling a conference team that covers importing meat via the Port of Hueneme from shipping source to dock freezer to rail and beyond," Gripenberg explained. "Representatives from Cool Carriers, Terminal Freezers and perhaps Marine Terminals Corporation, the port's stevedoring service, plan to make the trip."

The meeting, a gathering of CEOs representing all facets of the Australian meat export industry, is slated for August 26 and 27 on Australia's Gold Coast, a resort area just outside Brisbane. "This forum is a valuable source of information about our industry as well as a wealth of new business/trade prospects," Gripenberg said. "There will be discussions on changing government regulations in Australia and countries importing Australian products, and analysis of quality, volumes and other factors affecting meat trade in the international marketplace."

A display illustrating the services offered by the various team components will be part of the two-day trade exhibition, better acquainting the more than 240 anticipated attendees with the strength and efficiency of a Cool Carriers/Port of Hueneme/Terminal Freezers export link.

FACILITATING INTERMODAL MOVEMENT OF CONTRACT CARGO

The Port of Hueneme's reputation as a topnotch niche port in refrigeration, automobiles and project cargo continues to attract big-name makers and transporters. The port recently assisted a 200-ton Caterpillar, Inc. earth mover from train to ship as it continued its intermodal journey to Japan. The largest piece of equipment manufactured by Caterpillar, the "994 Excavator" originated in Peoria, Ill. and was transported cross-country by Southern Pacific Railroad in five rail cars. It was then loaded onto the Wallenius Lines ship Isolde bound for Yokohama.

"Our port is attracting more and more of this kind of business," said William J. Buenger, the port's deputy executive director. "The operation went smoothly. We would like to get Caterpillar here on a regular basis."

Joe DiMassa, vice-president of Pacific Ro/Ro, terminal operator for Wallenius Lines, related that the loading operation went "better and faster" than expected. "We've done a number of these major heavy-load moves before. Although Caterpillar might be a new job for the port, the work is nothing new to this crew."

Wallenius Lines, the Swedish carrier, also calls regularly at Hueneme on behalf of numerous automobile importers and exporters including BMW, Jaguar, Land-Rover and Volvo.

Other users of the port include Mazda Motors of America, a client since 1977, which processes approximately 100,000 vehicles through the port annually, and Del Monte Fresh Produce Co., which imports about 100,000 metric tons of Latin American bananas, melons and pineapples a year.

Anthony J. Taormina is the executive director of the Oxnard Harbor District.