The National City Marine Terminal in San Diego Bay is a 125-acre five-berth facility operated by Pasha Automotive Services, which over the past 20 years has processed more than four million imported vehicles through the terminal. The NCMT serves as one of the primary United States ports of entry for car manufacturers Acura, Hino Motors, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi Fuso, Nissan, and, Volkswagen.
Last week, the governing board for the Port of San Diego sought to assure that Pasha will be at the NCMT for some time to come.
The board approved a 30-year terminal operating agreement for Pasha at the NCMT which takes effect Jan. 1, 2010 and extends through December 31, 2040.
"They have been a superior tenant to us and have brought in millions in revenue, which is ultimately pumped back into capital improvement projects in National City and the other member cities," said Robert Valderrama, Chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners.
For its part, Pasha has pledged to invest over ten million dollars in improvements over the life of the agreement, or an average of about $335,000 a year
The terms of the lease include a minimum annual guarantee of revenue from the number of vehicles imported each year at the terminal. The minimum annual guarantee is approximately $5.2 million during the first year of the new agreement, and increasing to $5.9 million from years five through nine. Additionally, Pasha will pay dockage, wharfage, and space occupancy charges, assume utility costs after 2011, and assume pavement maintenance on the terminal.
“In 20 years this partnership with the port and our community has blossomed from 30 employees to several hundred, from 30,000 vehicles to more than 400,000 in a single year,” said Pasha Automotive Services Vice President John Pasha. “There is no other West Coast solution like the National City Marine Terminal which includes five berths, capacity for 180 railcars on site, proximity to local and regional markets via truck or landbridge, a highly skilled and efficient workforce trained in over 200 accessories on more than a dozen brands and plenty of capacity to grow.”
In addition to automobiles, Pasha is looking at the possibility of luring general cargo to the NCMT.
