New Port Terminal to Open

Port of Hueneme officials will get their holiday barbecue early as they dedicate a $7.1-million terminal today that adds temporary storage and the promise of increased employment.

Called the Sunkist Site Terminal, because the spot once housed an Oxnard Lemon Assn. packinghouse, the 11.5-acre parcel along the port’s south terminal provides about 2,000 short-term parking spaces for imported automobiles and other wheeled cargo.

Jess Herrera, president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, said the additional acreage will help the port in its attempt to attract new users and persuade existing tenants to expand operations. “It’s always better to have more space when you’re trying to attract more customers.”

With greater storage capacity near the waterfront, there is less pressure to reposition cargo due to overcrowding, said Herrera, a member of the longshoremen’s union. “Just having more space gives us more leeway with moving cargo off the docks before the next shipment arrives,” he said.

The extra breathing room is overdue and should allow the port to increase imports more than 8%, according to William J. Buenger, the port’s executive director.

“For the last year, we’ve been sticking cars in every nook and cranny,” he said. “We’ve been closing streets and roadways just to land the cars. We won’t have to do that anymore.”

Buenger said the port should earn $4.6 million from the approximately 230,000 cars it imported in the fiscal year ended Monday. The Sunkist terminal could allow the port to handle 20,000 additional cars this year, which would mean a $400,000 increase in revenue.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, an Oslo-based shipping concern that specializes in “roll-on, roll-off” cargo, will be the primary user of the terminal. It brings Jaguars, Land Rovers, Mitsubishis, Suzukis and Volvos into the Port of Hueneme, the only deep-water port between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Herrera said he expects that the additional space will eventually result in more jobs, primarily among the 400 part-time dockworkers employed at the port, some of whom could become full-time, registered longshoremen.

Chris Birkelo, the port’s director of engineering, said crews are out painting stripes on the asphalt and that the terminal will soon be ready.

“Theoretically, they could put cars on it as soon as we get the striping done,” Birkelo said. “If we were in a crunch situation, cargo could go there right now.”

Utility poles will be removed from the site after Southern California Edison transfers power to underground lines late next week. The switch-over is being coordinated with several customers near the site that operate refrigerated facilities for storing bananas and citrus.

About 100 invited guests, including Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, are expected at this morning’s dedication, which will be followed by a reception and barbecue.