Breakbulk is big business in the Golden State By George Lauriat, AJOTBulk and neo-bulk shipping is big business in California. The box business grabs the headlines, but the Golden State’s dry bulk shipping business, whether wind turbines, fruits, grains, forest or steel products, fills ship bottoms in ports running the length of the State. Like container traffic, bulk and neo bulk products are down at many Californian ports in comparison to recent years. Nevertheless, California’s bulk ports are gearing up with investment in critical infrastructure projects for a rebound that might just be around the corner. Ports like San Francisco, Stockton, Richmond, West Sacramento, San Diego, Redwood City, Hueneme handle significant amounts of break bulk, neo bulk and project cargo as do the port giants Los Angeles and Long Beach (see chart). PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO Jim Maloney, maritime marketing manager for the Port of San Francisco, in an interview with the AJOT said, “We are working on positioning ourselves for a rebound in project cargo and break bulk.” The port of San Francisco is a little different than most US ports as it converted its container terminal space into general cargo to cater to the break bulk, neo bulks and project cargo work. “The Port’s base business is neo-bulks…steel products like coil, re-bars, pipe and wind power project parts.” The port also handles project cargo. For example, the steel imported from South Korea for the Eastern Span Bypass, a 1200-foot temporary span being built as part of the Bay Bridge retrofit. The Bay Bridge links San Francisco and Oakland, and the bypass is critical to keep traffic flowing during the retrofit. The Port of San Francisco’s attraction is its close proximity to the open ocean, which is a plus for project cargo. A sign of the port’s success came on April 28th when the “BBC England,” a 10,380-dwt break-bulk ship operated by BBC Chartering, made its maiden call at the Port of San Francisco’s Pier 80 marine terminal to discharge project cargo. The BBC England discharged 22 pieces of steel duct. Condenser tanks were loaded in Vietnam and destined for the air cooling systems of the Colusa Generating Station power plant project in Maxwell, California about 75 miles northwest of San Francisco. The main issue for San Francisco is terminal rail connections to marshaling yards and main line rail services. This year Piers 94/96 and 80 will be connected to the main cargo 70-acre cargo facility via the Illinois Street Intermodal Bridge. The .66-mile Illinois Street Intermodal Bridge access replaces a circuitous 3.3-mile connection that Union Pacific Railroad has been using to connect to the piers. Eventually, the port would like access via CalTrains to main lines. However, there are a number of issues including tunnel clearances that are insufficient for cargo like tri-level auto carriers and will have to be addressed before this option is a reality. PORT OF STOCKTON The Port of Stockton, located seventy-five nautical miles due east of the Golden Gate Bridge, has perhaps the most diverse cargo mix of any port on the West Coast. For example in 2008, the port on the inbound side handled 270,000 tons of liquid fertilizer and 268,834 tons of cement. The port also imports anhydrous ammonia, molasses and various steel and project cargo shipments. The main export items for the port were sulfur at 227,000 tons and California’s own bagged rice amounting to 155,000 tons. The port has also made a concerted effort to attract project cargo work. In 2008 thirty ships called with various components for wind generator projects, a majority destined for Meridian Way Wind Farm near Concordia, Kansas. Other shipments went to projects in Texas, Wisconsin and Illinois. Another 13 ships called with project cargo related shipments such as generators and specialized steel work. Part of the attraction of the port of Stockton is the extensive rail and road connections. The Port has berthing space for 17 ves