Recommendation to Grant Port of Tauranga Consent to Dredge

Posted on 3rd June 2010

Port of Tauranga has welcomed the decision of the Hearing Panel to recommend to the Minister of Conservation to grant a resource consent to deepen and widen the harbour shipping channels. The consent will enable the Port to dredge to accommodate ships up to 14.5m draught at low water and with an overall length of 347m. Typically, these ships can carry up to 7,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent container units).

Chief Executive Mark Cairns says the Port's ability to accommodate larger container ships will bring significant economic benefits to exporters and importers.

"This is great news, not only for the Company and the region, but for the whole country as it allows us to develop an international hub port which can cater for the growing trend of larger ships carrying more containers."
The consent follows lengthy negotiations between Port of Tauranga and local Iwi and hapu who opposed the application.

"While it was a challenging process, our discussions with tangata whenua were carried out with an enormous amount of goodwill from both parties," says Mr Cairns.

"The talks were carried out with respect to each others position and a strong partnership endures," he says. Research and monitoring associated with the consent, as well as a kaimoana restoration programme, will be carried out with the advice and assistance of tangata whenua.

Mr Cairns says the dredging is expected to be carried out in stages to match market demand.

Larger container ships are expected to increasingly frequent New Zealand. In April, Port of Tauranga welcomed the maiden visit of one of the largest container ships ever to visit, OOCL New Zealand - a vessel which can carry 4,578 TEUs. The largest ship to call at Tauranga previously had a capacity of 4,100 TEUs.

Mr Cairns says the challenges presented by the worldwide trend to larger ships included ensuring road and rail capacity for transfers of large volumes of containers.

"We are working with KiwiRail and our customers to ensure we've got the capacity to move cargo as quickly and efficiently as possible. Utilising MetroPort, our inland port in Southdown, we can get cargo into and out of the heart of Auckland's commercial and industrial zone without delay," he says.

"We continue to plan and invest to ensure that Port of Tauranga remains New Zealand's port for the future. We've got to make sure the right infrastructure is in place at the right time or our exporters and importers will be disadvantaged - and that would have serious ramifications for the national economy."

For further details, contact:
Mark Cairns
Chief Executive
Port of Tauranga Limited
Ph: 07 572 8829