The U.S. Navy is opening facilities in Port Hueneme, California, which is located less than 100 miles north of the Port of Los Angeles. The opening is in direct support of decreasing port congestion. Port Hueneme is the West Coast homeport of the Navy’s famous construction battalion, the Seabees.
A standing Joint Use Agreement with Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) and the Oxnard Harbor District (OHD), allows the Navy to support commercial supply chain logistics when activated for emergency use.
“Naval Base Ventura County recently welcomed a large cargo vessel,” said Daniel J. Herrera, assistant program director for port operations, NBVC. “Ports of America already off-loaded a large number of forty-foot containers into lot 22 onboard Port Hueneme which is merchandise expected to have direct impact with helping to support holiday supply demands.”
The Navy entered into the joint agreement with local authorities in 2002, authorizing commercial use of a wharf at the Naval base plus approximately 21 acres of contiguous land, two buildings, and if available, overflow land.
Jason Hodge, President of the OHD which owns the Port of Hueneme (POH), stated that commercial business at the port has increased significantly over the past year and when it comes to moving cargo, the Port’s flexible “Can Do” attitude is similar to the Navy Seabees’ “Can Do” motto of completing a task no matter the condition or situation.
“The Port appreciates the partnership with NBVC and locating additional space to accommodate excess holiday shipments coming through the Port,” Hodge said. “We are delighted to come together to meet the challenge of providing a solution to help keep essential goods moving. Our long-standing history of partnership continues with this call-to-action to address the national supply chain challenge.”
The US Navy has not mentioned opening other ports in California but approximately 100 miles south is US Naval Base San Diego which is the second largest surface ship base operated by the United States Navy. There is also no mention of the Navy activating the US Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) extensive Ready Reserve Fleet or US Navy Military Sealift Command ships capable of moving containers up and down the coast in a process called short sea shipping.
“The opening of NBVC is a small step. The navy is making just one berth available for ships with gear to offload,” said maritime expert Dr. Sal Mercogliano, who suggested activating the ready reserve fleet last month in a YouTube segment titled How to Clear the Ports of Los Angeles. “The problem is that the ports of LA/LB offloaded less cargo in October than they did last October. The number of containers dwelling is not falling at any consistent rate and the number of ships waiting to offload is at record levels. The use of Hueneme is a step, but not enough to clear the backlog.”
By Nate Raymond Dec 6 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Naval Academy may continue to consider race when evaluating candidates to attend the elite military school,...
BANGKOK, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s navy opened fire on a group of Thai fishing vessels on Saturday, causing one fisherman to drown, and detained 31 crew members from one of the boats, a...
By Wilfried Eckl-Dorna Nov 15, 2024 (Bloomberg) –Thyssenkrupp AG is planning an initial public offering of its naval shipbuilding unit within a year after plans to sell a majority stake to...
November 17, 2024
Total Views: 1049
Sign Up Now for gCaptain Daily
We’ve got your daily industry news related to the global maritime and offshore industries.
JOIN OUR CREW
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 109,769 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.