Ports of Auckland is to spend around $8 million enlarging its berth capacity in preparation for the visits of next generation container ships.
The company, owned by Auckland Council Investments, the investment arm of the new Auckland Council, will deepen the northern berth at the Fergusson container terminal and build a mooring structure that will extend the maximum combined length of vessels able to be serviced simultaneously by around 40m, chief executive Jens Madsen says.
The announcement steps up competition with the Port of Tauranga for container ship business. The Bay of Plenty port is also preparing to take bigger container ships.
Madsen says it is clear more vessels in the 3500-5500 container capacity range will be coming to New Zealand in future years.
The investment will ensure sufficient depth along the length of the Fergusson terminal to accommodate bigger vessels with deeper draughts, he says.
The new mooring structure, called a “dolphin”, will be separate from the main wharf and will enable vessels to be safely moored on the outer berth with a greater overhang than is allowable currently. Work will start early next year.
Madsen says the prospect of 7000 container capacity ships regularly visiting New Zealand by 2015, as suggested in a recent report from the Shippers Council, seems optimistic.
The Ports of Auckland is therefore taking a step-by-step approach, he says.
The port is the New Zealand’s busiest container operation, with 63 per cent of the upper North Island market share.
It handled cargo valued at around $25 billion in the year to June 30, equivalent to 13 per cent of New Zealand’s GDP.
The company, owned by Auckland Council Investments, the investment arm of the new Auckland Council, will deepen the northern berth at the Fergusson container terminal and build a mooring structure that will extend the maximum combined length of vessels able to be serviced simultaneously by around 40m, chief executive Jens Madsen says.
The announcement steps up competition with the Port of Tauranga for container ship business. The Bay of Plenty port is also preparing to take bigger container ships.
Madsen says it is clear more vessels in the 3500-5500 container capacity range will be coming to New Zealand in future years.
The investment will ensure sufficient depth along the length of the Fergusson terminal to accommodate bigger vessels with deeper draughts, he says.
The new mooring structure, called a “dolphin”, will be separate from the main wharf and will enable vessels to be safely moored on the outer berth with a greater overhang than is allowable currently. Work will start early next year.
Madsen says the prospect of 7000 container capacity ships regularly visiting New Zealand by 2015, as suggested in a recent report from the Shippers Council, seems optimistic.
The Ports of Auckland is therefore taking a step-by-step approach, he says.
The port is the New Zealand’s busiest container operation, with 63 per cent of the upper North Island market share.
It handled cargo valued at around $25 billion in the year to June 30, equivalent to 13 per cent of New Zealand’s GDP.