CentrePort is one step closer to getting back to normal, with regular container services due to resume next month.
The Wellington port, owned by regional ratepayers, has been unable to load or unload all but a handful of container ships since the Kaikoura earthquake on November 14.
Damage to the wharves meant its two 86-metre-tall gantry cranes could not be operated. For the past several weeks, cargo bound for Wellington has been diverted to other ports such as Napier, and containers shifted by rail or truck to the capital.
The only ships able to unload directly at the port were ones with their own cranes, which were not common in New Zealand waters.
From February 12, Australian-based shipping firm ANL will make weekly visits to Wellington to drop off and pick up containers with its own cranes.
“It’s an old way of doing things,” CentrePort chief executive Derek Nind said. “The [ANL] ship is part of a network, like a bus route”, and would call at Wellington along with other ports around the country.
The main difference in Wellington would be that, instead of using the gantry cranes, it would have to use its own.
In the meantime, temporary repairs on both the port and the two 720-tonne gantry cranes have begun, but it could still be four to six months before the cranes were operating again, Nind said.
CentrePort was looking to attract more ships and shipping companies with a similar crane set-up to ANL.
To accommodate those ships, it would be a matter of adjusting the port’s current unloading systems and making sure staff were trained appropriately.
“There will be some modifications to our processes, because we will have to operate a little differently,” he said.
Ships with on-board cranes require a stretch of stable berth on which to unload, and Nind said Aotea Quay Two had roughly 1000 metres of “good berth”.
Noel Coom, general manager of ANL New Zealand, said he expected the service to be well-used by central New Zealand shippers.
“We’re excited to be working with CentrePort on this initiative. By adapting our operations, we are bringing regular container shipping in Wellington. We’ve already visited the port since the earthquake, and this scheduled service will further meet the needs of central region businesses.”
Nind said it had been a tough time for the port since the earthquake, but it had been working closely with customers to try and stay on track as much as possible.
“I think we are all working really hard to get the port back up and running.”
Repair work was an ongoing process, and at present a lot of paving work was being done.
Nind emphasised that CentrePort’s other key trades, including ferries, fuel, logs, cars and cruise ships, continued to operate.
Source: Stuff (LF)
Source: Stuff