Joel Valenzuela: Why San Diego Wants a Bigger Slice of America’s Project Cargo

California is home to some of America’s biggest container ports, but San Diego is building a different proposition – one centred on breakbulk, heavy lift and project cargo. In this episode of Voices of Breakbulk Americas, Luke King sits down with Joel Valenzuela, Vice President, Operations, Port of San Diego, to explore how the port is carving out a distinctive role in the US project cargo market.Joel explains why San Diego has chosen to specialise in non-containerised cargo, how two new all-electric mobile harbour cranes have given the port up to 400 tonnes of tandem lifting capacity, and why that could allow it to compete for projects far beyond Southern California, potentially even cargo traditionally routed through the Gulf Coast.The conversation also covers the growth of battery energy storage cargo, military logistics, opportunities from US mining projects, nearshoring in Mexico, tariffs and trade uncertainty, and the port’s $200 million-plus investment in greener operations.With project cargo treated as a priority rather than an afterthought, can San Diego persuade more shippers to look to the US West Coast?🎥 Recorded live at Breakbulk Europe 2026 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 👉 Connect with Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-valenzuela-a9784a7/Hosted by Luke King and produced by Prospect Communications, a specialist PR consultancy for the project cargo sector. For all business enquires relating to the podcast, email Luke@prospectcomms.co.uk and visit https://www.projectcargopros.com/ About Breakbulk Breakbulk organises the world's largest events for project cargo and breakbulk logistics, bringing together cargo owners, EPCs, carriers, forwarders and ports from across the global supply chain. With flagship events held annually in Dubai, Rotterdam, Houston and Singapore, Breakbulk serves as a key meeting point for networking, deal-making and industry insight. 👉 Visit https://breakbulk.com to find out more about upcoming events and registration. About Our Series Sponsor: Rhenus Project Logistics Global Rhenus delivers turnkey solutions for complex industrial and infrastructure projects worldwide, combining in-house engineering with multi-modal transport and its own asset base. 👉 Visit https://www.rhenus.group/uk/en/project-logistics/