Shipping Sector: Embrace Bigger Ships Or Become A Backwater
August 25th, 2010
If NZ doesn’t move quickly and prepare at least a couple of ports to accommodate large modern container ships, it risks only having a “boutique” shipping service from small and old vessels, considerably adding to costs. The Shippers’ Council’s report “The Question of Bigger Ship: Securing NZ’s International Supply Chain,” compiled by a team of freight sector experts and analysts, recommends of the country’s four large container ports, Tauranga and Lyttelton are first made capable of handling up to 7000 TEU ships, and KiwiRail’s infrastructure also be upgraded to enable an increased number of containers to seamlessly flow from hinterlands to port.
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The report warns the country has at the most five years to accommodate large ships or else increased container hubbing will occur through Aust’s main ports, with a resulting fall in operational flexibility for kiwi exporters. The development of a North and South Island big-ship-capable port would realise up to $144m a year of net supply chain benefits from 2015/16 on the South East Asia route only and provide a strategic insurance policy which protects the efficiency of NZ’s existing international supply chains, the report says.
It argues enabling larger container ships to access NZ ports will also reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, capture the economies of scale from bigger ships and secure shipping capacity with direct links to key international hubs and markets. It recommends before further port industry consolidation takes place the Govt ensures the legislative framework is not a barrier to bigger ships being introduced, while the two key container ports should prepare the necessary resource consents and prepare to implement appropriate capital expenditure plans.
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