L.A. Port Strife Sends Business to Hueneme

Continuing labor strife at the Port of Los Angeles has officials with the tiny Port of Hueneme sensing an opportunity to lure business from their much larger competitor to the south.

Two ships Monday were diverted from the nation’s second-largest port to Ventura County. The dozen striking pilots at the municipally owned port in Los Angeles are seeking a 72% pay increase and have shut down all shipping there for three days.

“It gives us an opportunity to show what we can do for these lines who are currently calling at our competitor’s facilities,” spokesman Kam Quarles said. “All of the seaports on the West Coast and around the world really are competitive, so when one stumbles the others are there to gobble up what they dropped.”

So far, Los Angeles hasn’t dropped much here--just two ships out of hundreds the Port of Hueneme handles each year.

A refrigerated banana boat--the 450-foot-long Discovery Bay--arrived at the Port of Hueneme at 5 p.m. Monday after a futile wait outside Los Angeles Harbor.

A second vessel carrying empty refrigerated containers was due in at 2 a.m. today.

However, if the shutdown in Los Angeles continues, more ships could make their way to Ventura County, boosting port income as well as providing a showcase for local services, Quarles said.

Los Angeles city officials have refused to acquiesce to what they describe as “absurd” pay demands. The increase sought by pilots would translate into an annual salary of $195,000, more than the Los Angeles port’s top administrator is paid.

Capt. Carl Dingler, the founder, president and chief pilot of the two-person Port Hueneme Pilots Assn., has no qualms about the extra work coming his way.

Pilots here are independent contractors, not unionized city employees, he said.

The local dockworkers who will unload the ships are members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the same union as the striking pilots, Dingler said.

“If their own union has no objection, there certainly wouldn’t be any objection on my part,” he said.