                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996           TAG: 9602210441
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   74 lines

LAMBERT'S POINT DOCKS SEEING PERMISSION TO DREDGE BESIDE PIER THE TERMINAL SAID IT IS LOSING BUSINESS AS SHIP'S BECOME LARGER.

A few feet might go a long way for Lambert's Point Docks.

The general cargo terminal in Norfolk has asked the Army Corps of Engineers and state regulators for permission to increase the depth beside one of its piers by nearly 6 1/2 feet to 40 feet.

Lambert's Point Docks Inc. wasn't able to bid to unload several ships in the past year because its water wasn't deep enough, said H.R. ``Bob'' Jones, president of the Norfolk Southern Corp. subsidiary.

``We've had that same water depth back to the 1960s and, of course, ships have gotten a lot bigger,'' Jones said.

Even if the dredging is approved, it may not happen soon. The project would have to be funded by Norfolk Southern, which wants assurances of a return on its investment, Jones said.

``I just hope, if we have some deeper water, we can attract some of those steamship lines that are passing us by,'' he said.

Lambert's Point Docks is on the Elizabeth River, next to Norfolk Southern's coal piers and adjacent to the West Ghent neighborhood. It is a niche terminal, handling mostly break-bulk cargos such as rubber, plywood, cocoa beans and steel. Break-bulk is not shipped in the standardized containers that have come to dominate the shipping industry.

Cargo shipped through the terminal fell 19.2 percent in 1995 to 362,000 tons compared with 448,000 tons the year before, Jones said.

Less cargo means fewer hours for the longshoremen who work the ships at the terminal, though, since the overall port grew by 14 percent, the workers probably got work at another terminal.

The decline at Lambert's Point was due mostly to the withdrawal of its largest customer, Waterman Steamship Lines, which hauls rubber between Indonesia and the United States. Seeking cheaper longshore wage rates, Waterman last year switched its regular port call to Wilmington, N.C.

The move resulted in the loss of 80,000 tons of rubber from Lambert's Point, Jones said. Rubber importers switched some of that lost cargo to another shipping line that calls at Norfolk International Terminals. NIT picked up 35,000 tons of rubber last year, Jones said.

And recently some of the rubber is being barged to Lambert's Point from Wilmington. ``So the port didn't lose out so much,'' Jones said.

Deepening one of its berths could also help reverse the slide in cargo shipped across Lambert's Point Docks.

The terminal couldn't bid to work three ships with loads of steel last year because its water wasn't deep enough, Jones said. It has missed out on two ships this year, he added.

While some of that cargo went to other terminals in Hampton Roads, some may have gone to another port such as Baltimore or Wilmington.

``Ships are getting so big today, you have to accommodate them, you have to look to the future,'' Jones said.

The dredging, which the terminal wants to do at its southernmost pier, known as Pier P, would cost up to $350,000 for each side of the pier, Jones said. Lambert's Point would probably only dredge the north side, he said.

The dredging itself must be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The estimated 175,000 cubic yards of dredged river bottom would be disposed of at Craney Island.

Little objection to the dredging is expected. Berths, like channels, are routinely dredged to maintain their depth. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo courtesy of Lambert's Point Docks

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by CNB