Coastal shipping in play

Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson.

Freight mover Toll New Zealand has joined Mainfreight in prioritising inter-island freighting movements for the South Island, with Ports of Auckland expecting a doubling of shipping space demand between Auckland and Christchurch.

With CentrePort in Wellington's rail wharf out of action following earthquake damage, and still under assessment, transport operators are concerned about a rail-container bottleneck developing in the capital.

Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said: "While the sudden increase in freight does put pressure on us, we will do everything we can to make sure the goods get through as quickly as possible."

Container mover Toll New Zealand yesterday joined Mainfreight in saying it had made arrangements with both domestic operators and international shipping lines to use coastal shipping, Toll NZ general manager Greg Miller told the ODT when contacted for comment.

"We have also activated an intermodal road and rail combination for services interisland, alongside installing significant additional road services interisland," Mr Miller said.

CentrePort was contacted for comment about the state of its rail wharf, and a spokesperson said some repairs had been made, but there were more engineering assessments to be done.

On the extent of damage to CentrePort's rail wharf, the spokesperson said: "It's still too early to say and we're still assessing the situation."

Mr Gibson said Ports of Auckland was working closely with Pacifica Shipping, New Zealand's domestic coastal shipping operator, and also other participating international lines.

"South Island goods are our top priority," he said.

The New Zealand Shippers' Council has predicted international carriers making multiple scheduled calls at various major ports around New Zealand will have extra capacity available for coastal work, but in the weeks ahead bringing in additional ships from Asia may have to be considered.

Pacifica Shipping chief executive Steve Chapman said the supply chain was open and shelves would remain well stocked as coastal shipping took up tasks previously carried out by road and rail.

"With the main road and rail links likely to be closed for months, we expect to be run off our feet, but we are well up to the challenge," he said yesterday.

This morning, Pacifica's coastal container ship Spirit of Canterbury was scheduled to be in Auckland, loading containers for Lyttelton.

Mr Chapman said there were five weekly services between Auckland and Lyttelton, operated by domestic and international lines, which had "ample capacity" to meet the current level of demand, and more if necessary.