Call To Integrate Land And Sea Transport
April 24th, 2008
NZ Shipping Federation President and Pacifica Shipping CEO, Rod Grout, has renewed his calls for coastal shipping and the road network to be better integrated. Speaking at the NZ Freight Transport Summit, Grout backed the call of Port Taranaki CEO, Roy Weaver, for black highways (roads) to be seamlessly linked with blue highways (sea routes). Grout says the Sea Change document produced by the Ministry of Transport is a start on the way to doing this, but there is no indication of what action will be taken to implement its recommendations.
He says coastal shipping will stay in the doldrums unless the Govt goes ahead with the changes outlined in the Sea Change document. He says coastal shipping is not playing in a truly competitive market and called for assistance from the Govt for the procurement of more ships able to carry containers, not RORO ships to ply Cook Strait. He’s calling for low or no interest loans from the Govt to coastal shippers, capital and operational grants and seed funding for new services. He also says there is a need for more than monetary incentives. He believes complimentary funding is needed to address ongoing charges – or as he calls it gouging, by port companies. Looking to the future, NZ needs to retain at least one major port with “hub” status, served by coastal shipping, and the Govt needs to be involved in developing a national transport plan with coastal shipping included.
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