New warehouse makes way for shift of breakbulk cargo

The Virginia Port Authority is completing construction on an $8.7 million warehouse at its Newport News terminal that will free up room at its main Norfolk operation.

The blue-skinned building, scheduled to open in July, will allow the Port Authority to shift much of the remaining freight not shipped in containers - also known as breakbulk cargo - to Newport News Marine Terminal from Norfolk International Terminals.

With the move, outdated warehouses at the Norfolk terminal will be demolished to make room for more containers, said Joseph A. Dorto, chief executive of Virginia International Terminals Inc., the authority's operating company.

Before the cargo container debuted in 1956, most freight was shipped breakbulk, often moved on wood pallets that had to be lifted individually on and off ships. Now, about 97 percent of the Port Authority's freight comes in the truck-sized metal boxes, Dorto said.

The authority needs room to accommodate more containers at the 672-acre Norfolk terminal because it can't expand, Dorto said. It is hemmed by commercial development, Norfolk Naval Station, a neighborhood and the mouth of the Lafayette River.

The new warehouse will store machinery, natural rubber and other cargo not moved in weatherproof containers, said authority spokesman Joe Harris. The 200,000-square-foot facility will increase warehouse space at the Newport News Marine Terminal by about a third.

The cargo moving to Newport News is carried by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, a longtime port customer that in November signed a five-year contract with the authority worth at least $20 million.

The 141-acre Newport News operation is the smallest of the state-controlled authority's three marine terminals. It handles mainly shipments of paper, Nissan automobiles and "project" cargo - large items such as turbines and generators. It handles few containers because it is not well-suited for them, Dorto said, because of its configuration and because it is served by only one railroad.

Dorto wants more breakbulk cargo to move through Newport News. He said the weak U.S. dollar should increase exports of big products such as turbines, and the Port Authority also has been working to attract more paper business.

"We just have to go after that type of business," Dorto said. "We really haven't put a lot of emphasis on breakbulk in the last couple of years because we've been pounding away at the container lines."

Still, containers will remain the authority's core business, he said.

Some breakbulk shipments will continue to move through the authority's two other terminals. Richmond Cold Storage exports frozen poultry and other products through a facility it leases at the Norfolk terminal, Dorto said. Also, a small amount of copper ingots will continue to arrive at Portsmouth Marine Terminal.

Gregory Richards, (757) 446-2599, gregory.richards@pilotonline.com