THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280600
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Business in the port of Hampton Roads continued to improve this year compared to last, one of its biggest players reported Thursday.
Virginia International Terminals Inc. reported increased income, vessel arrivals, container traffic and cargo tonnage for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
VIT operates port terminals in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News owned by the Virginia Port Authority. Its results do not include those of the Sea-Land Service's terminal in Portsmouth or of Lambert's Point Docks in Norfolk.
VIT's income soared 19 fold to nearly $2 million in the latest quarter. That's up from $104,000 a year ago. As a nonstock, nonprofit company, all of VIT's income is plowed back into port improvements.
``We have not had to expend the same labor dollars this year because the cocoa business has been down,'' said Joseph A. Dorto, VIT general manager and chief executive.
Its revenues increased 5.3 percent to nearly $24 million.
During the quarter, terminals operated by VIT handled 566 ships and barges, 109,929 containers and 1.58 million tons of cargo. In the same three months last year it handled 456 vessels, 100,958 containers and 1.39 million tons of cargo.
Much of the increase in vessels is related to feeder barges out of Baltimore bringing containers to ships calling here, Dorto said.
Container tonnage increased 12.6 percent, while VIT's break-bulk tonnage increased by 37.8 percent. Break-bulk cargo includes commodities such as steel, cocoa beans and rubber that are transported on pallets.
``The only increase we've had in break-bulk cargo is in steel,'' Dorto said. by CNB