Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Business

Port busy as strike diverts shipping

By by Kiri Gillespie
Bay of Plenty Times·
1 Dec, 2011 10:33 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Port of Tauranga has braced itself for a hectic weekend as strike action in Auckland brings unexpected business to Western Bay shores.

Talks over pay and conditions between Ports of Auckland and Maritime Union of New Zealand failed to satisfy both parties, resulting in a strike and lockout at the Auckland terminals yesterday.

The four-day strike has meant Port of Tauranga is taking two extra container vessels. The Cap Mondego arrives from Napier today and ANL Burilla is expected to berth on Sunday from Sydney.

Both vessels will bypass Auckland and their imported cargo will be railed north.

A third vessel, Maersk Juan, arrives in Tauranga on schedule today and it will also be offloading its Auckland-bound cargo.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said they would probably handle another 2000 containers as a result of the rescheduling.

"While that's good for the port and region - to have all of the extra work going on - it leaves a sour taste in my mouth and I don't think it [the strike] is good for New Zealand. It's our exports that need a productive and efficient port and if we can't deliver on that ... we will go backwards."

About 4700 containers are said to be impacted by the strike and Ports of Auckland is estimated to lose up to $1.2 million in revenue.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There were currently talks between the Port of Tauranga and and Ports of Auckland concerning local support during a proposed second strike over four days next week.

"We will help as best we can but we won't disrupt our existing customers. They are fixed," Mr Cairns said.

He said the port wanted to minimise any impact on imports and exports.

"We are lucky we have a very good pool of labour and that we can deal with these things. We are lucky we have a great workforce."

Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said mediation talks with the union were unsuccessful and if the situation continued there was "significant risk" the ports could lose a shipping line service entirely.

Mr Gibson said if the proposed strike next week went ahead it would affect a further seven ships and as many as 7500 containers. "This is a very serious situation."

The action involves 327 of 580 employees.

Mr Gibson said the company agreed to meet with the union for further mediation next week.

Maritime Union of New Zealand national president Garry Parsloe said Mr Gibson had no one to blame but himself.

Although port workers were locked out and would be losing pay, union members understood the long-term importance of maintaining terms and conditions.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
OpinionMark Lister

Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers

Bay of Plenty Times

From Greerton to Windsor Castle: Lawn mowing pioneer wins top export award

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Premium
Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers
OpinionMark Lister

Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers

Mortgage rates dropped over 2% in 18 months, but further relief is limited.

20 Jul 04:00 PM
From Greerton to Windsor Castle: Lawn mowing pioneer wins top export award
Bay of Plenty Times

From Greerton to Windsor Castle: Lawn mowing pioneer wins top export award

18 Jul 06:07 PM
Premium
Premium
More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'
Bay of Plenty Times

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'

16 Jul 08:54 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP