New contract to boost Tauranga Port business

Port of Tauranga's operations and revenue have been given a big boost after the world's third-largest container shipping line decided to transfer its business from Auckland.
From the end of next month, Tauranga will become the North Island shipping hub for CMA CGM's major round-the-world service NEMO (New Europe Mascarene Oceania), adding 52 container vessel visits a year.
It is the first time that the French shipping giant has called here and it will be the Port of Tauranga's second direct service to Europe, along with the Trident schedule operated by Hamburg Sud which also diverted its business from Auckland.
A CMA CGM ship will arrive every week from Brisbane before heading for Lyttelton, and the NEMO service will increase Port of Tauranga's container business by 5 per cent - more than 20,000 20-foot containers - in a year.
In the last financial year the port handled a record 460,000 containers through its Sulphur Point Terminal and inland MetroPort at Onehunga, Auckland.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said CMA CGM's move was "fantastic news; it's a significant tranche of business for us."
He said the shipping company - which recently bought US Lines - recognised Tauranga as a major North Island distribution hub, serving the Auckland market through a unique rail partnership to MetroPort located in the heart of the industrial area.
Marseille-based CMA-CGM, operating 336 container ships in 150 countries, announced yesterday it was going to use Tauranga instead of Auckland for its NEMO service, which began last March and links northern Europe with south-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand through the Suez Canal.
It brought a nonplussed response from Ports of Auckland. Its managing director Jens Madsen said the loss to Auckland was disappointing but not unexpected.
"Ports of Auckland will continue to compete strongly in the market but it will only do so on a profitable basis. The industry continues to be extremely competitive, and wins and losses of shipping services are an ongoing reality for New Zealand's seaports," he said.
Ports of Auckland, which downgraded its profit just before Christmas, will still host CMA CGM's Panama/US east coast/northern Europe service. It also picked up a new dedicated transtasman-Tasman service operated by Gold Star Line.
Industry sources suggested that these two services might also be in the firing line as Port of Tauranga turns up the heat on Auckland for North Island cargo handling supremacy.
At the end of 2006, the world's largest shipping line Maersk, which handles 40 per cent of New Zealand's seafreight, decided to centre its North Island operations in Auckland, but since then the Tauranga port company has more than made up for that loss of business.
The two ports investigated a merger but abandoned the proposal last year.
"Our business has continued to grow 10 per cent compounding and we are very happy about where we are placed," said Mr Cairns.