It had contracts with a malting company to bring in grain as well as with Carter Holt Harvey for timber and another deal for dolomite from the South Island.
"We see an opportunity to develop that further with a second vessel and open up more opportunities for South Island producers to feed into North Island markets via here."
The Anatoki will continue operating in Whanganui but mainly short-hauler stuff, Smith said. It would not fit at Wharf 1 alongside the new ship at the same time.
"Size is what matters in shipping."
While the Anatoki carries about 800 tonnes, the new vessel will be much bigger, carrying about 2000 tonnes.
"It'll just give us more options as to what we can carry out of here as [it is] container compatible, whereas the Anatoki can, but with difficulty."
The new ship also had to be able to handle rough West Coast conditions seen in places like Whanganui, Westport and Greymouth - places Coastal Bulk Shipping had a lot of its business.
Smith said there now needed to be further conversations with Whanganui District Council about the port's ability to accommodate the Anatoki and the larger vessel and the increased amount of product that would be coming with it.
The shipping co-investment was announced on Tuesday by Minister of Transport Michael Wood as being a step closer to a more resilient, competitive and sustainable coastal shipping sector.
The other companies that got backing were Move International Ltd, which does some work out of New Plymouth, Swire Shipping NZ and Westland Mineral Sands Co.
"Coastal shipping is a small but important part of the New Zealand freight system, which is why the Government is investing in making coastal shipping a more viable alternative to strengthen and diversify our domestic supply chain, helping to secure New Zealand's recovery from Covid-19," Wood said.
As a lower emissions transport mode, investing in coastal shipping will also help achieve a national goal to reduce carbon emissions, Wood said.
The Government is putting up $30 million to go towards the coastal shipping projects, but the four companies chosen for the funding were themselves putting up a cumulative $60 million.
Smith said Coastal Bulk Shipping was not getting a quarter of the money, but the co-investment for a new ship would be '50-50'.
The Government's contribution would go towards improving domestic shipping resources, reducing emissions, improving efficiency and upgrading maritime infrastructure, Wood said.
The minister said he hoped, with the support of the freight industry, that the extra services would help fix some of the issues in international and domestic supply chains.
"Each of these four selected suppliers will bring at least one additional coastal shipping vessel into service. Together this will improve the resilience of the overall freight supply chain."
The new vessels were expected to remove about 35 million kilometres of truck travel from the country's roading network, Wood said.
"Through this funding we are taking an important step towards better utilising the blue highway, improving our freight system, and future-proofing our national supply chain."
