
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994                    TAG: 9406200204 
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY                     PAGE: 16    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Gage Harter, Business Weekly Staff 
DATELINE: 940620                                 LENGTH: Short

THE PORT: "IT'S DEFINITELY AN UP-AND-DOWN BUSINESS"

{LEAD} Part conductor. Part diplomat. When Corey Summerville dons his hard hat at Dominion Terminal Associates, he's more than a mere deck foreman at the downtown Newport News coal-loading pier.

Perched on a small platform at the maw of a collier's dark hold, Summerville waves his hands to direct a long chute into place. And as the coal rumbles down a conveyor and pours into the belly of the ship like a stream of black cereal, he keeps a close eye to make sure it's evenly distributed.

{REST} The finale, however, won't come for a while. At 6,500 tons per hour, it takes a full 24 hours to fill the mammoth collier.

In the meantime, Summerville serves as unofficial good-will ambassador to foreign sailors. He recommends restaurants and malls. He offers advice on sightseeing.

There's been less of that for the past year. With recession lingering in Europe, coal exports and ship calls are down in Hampton Roads.

But Summerville remains upbeat.

``It's definitely an up-and-down business,'' the Norfolk native says.

But, ``I feel pretty secure as far as the job goes. There's plenty of coal in the ground.''

{KEYWORDS} ALMANAC

by CNB