THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240426
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
As was widely expected, the port of Hampton Roads had a record year in 1995.
The Virginia Port Authority announced Tuesday that the port not only exceeded 1994's record tonnage levels, but also exceeded the record by more than 1.1 million tons or 14.1 percent.
Nearly 9.1 million tons of cargo passed across the docks at the region's port terminals, up from just under 8 million tons last year.
``In the past decade, Virginia ports have catapulted to the forefront on the U.S. East Coast in port growth,'' said Russell Kirk, chairman of the port authority board. ``Growth indicators in 1995 remained strong. Container cargo continued to be the strongest, with an 18 percent increase overall.''
The port authority owns terminals in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News, as well as an inland facility near Front Royal. The year's figures also include results for the Sea-Land Service Inc. terminal in Portsmouth and Lambert's Point Docks in Norfolk, owned by Norfolk Southern Corp.
The growth has generated an estimated increase of 334 port-related jobs, including 150 new jobs on the docks, making Hampton Roads one of the few U.S. ports to add members to the International Longshoremen's Association work force, Kirk said.
Driving the container tonnage growth were several new and expanded steamship services, including:
A joint service began between the Far East and the East Coast by Overseas Orient Container Line, American President Line and Nedlloyd Line.
Hanjin Shipping joined with Cho Yang Line and DSR-Senator Line in a service between the East Coast and Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.
A joint service of Sea-Land and Transroll moved to Hampton Roads from Baltimore.
Baltic Line began service between Virginia and Baltic Sea states including Russia.
Turkish Cargo Line began new service between Turkey and Newport News.
Chilean Line selected Hampton Roads as its first inbound port-of-call from South America's East Coast.
On top of all that, Evergreen Line, already one of the port's largest customers in 1994, doubled its business in 1995, Kirk said.
The only weak spot for the port was in the handling of non-containerized break-bulk cargo such as steel, cocoa beans, rubber and lumber. Break-bulk cargo shipments through Hampton Roads were down 14.7 percent for the year.
The decline is in large part because of the midyear departure of Waterman Steamship Line, which imported a lot of rubber through Lambert's Point for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Waterman moved south to Wilmington, N.C., where its ships could be unloaded by longshoremen earning less than those here.
But the port authority succeeded at attracting some new break-bulk cargos last year, Kirk said.
STORA, a giant Swedish paper maker, began shipping newsprint through Hampton Roads in the fall and has become one of the port's top 20 shippers, spokeswoman Linda Ford said.
Meanwhile, the port authority's planned expansion of Norfolk International Terminals is about to get under way.
In the next two months the port authority will request bids for construction of a 1,500-foot wharf to the north of the existing terminal, dredging the Elizabeth River in front of the wharf and paving more than 60 acres behind the wharf for container storage, said Stephen Curtis, the port's chief engineer.
Combined the contracts are estimated to be worth about $53.5 million. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
VP
GREATER LOAD
SOURCE: Virginia Port Authority
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB