INCREASED shipping activity at New Zealand’s Port Nelson is expected to lift container capacity by a third.
The four shipping companies which call Port Nelson – Maersk, ANL, MSC and Pacifica – have either expanded their services at the port or intend to do so, according to Port Nelson chief executive Hugh Morrison.
He said shipping schedules have been volatile since the onset of Covid, but renewed commitments from shipping lines may increase throughput by a third compared with volumes seen 12 months ago.
Mr Morrison said the expanded services are great news for importers and exporters in the region.
“Exporters around the country have been finding it difficult to secure slots on vessels for their products and have faced delays when those booked slots have been rolled over due to a vessel being delayed or cancelled,” Mr Morrison said.
“Over the last year, as Covid-19 impacts on shipping have lessened, international shipping services have returned to more reliable schedules and reduced prices.
“Unfortunately, in New Zealand these improvements seen overseas have been slower to materialise.
“Lack of resourcing and capacity constraints at the New Zealand ports that are key for imports, Auckland, Tauranga, and Lyttelton, have seen New Zealand a laggard in the recovery.
“However, we have started to see the benefits of these key ports working together with container lines to return to scheduled arrival times. More empty containers from these larger import ports are coming to us again, as a provincial exporting port.”
Mr Morrison said a weekly service from Pacifica moved from one tide to two tides last month, meaning they will remain in port for an additional 12 hours each call, potentially doubling the containers handled during a visit.
And in March, Maersk announced it would upgrade its trans-Tasman Polaris service from a fortnightly service to a weekly service, beginning in April.
Mr Morrison believes the additional calls would also double the container volumes handled on the Maersk service.
“Looking at just these two shipping lines alone we can see a capacity increase of approximately a third on 2022 volumes.”
Morrison said ANL and MSC have also remained committed to Nelson.
“MSC is working to return to regular weekly visits once schedules have stabilised at the key import ports,” he said.
“In addition we are now well into a trial period of bringing in larger MSC vessels that have the potential to increase capacity. This improvement in capacity and resilience comes as a result of the recent investment in the redeveloped Main Wharf North, the purchase of a 70-tonne bollard pull tug, and the new crane.”
Mr Morrison said ANL stopped its direct service into Nelson in late 2022 due to challenges with schedules at New Zealand ports.
“Their intention is to re-open this service once these schedules stabilise,” he said.
“In the meantime, ANL cargo has been moving on the Pacifica coastal service, supported by direct out-of-schedule visits by ANL vessels to bring in empty containers.
“Exporters and importers will hopefully see the benefits of this new capacity over the next few months.”
Mr Morrison said all shipping services coming into Port Nelson need to comply with noise restrictions recently established across all New Zealand ports.
The community around the port complained of noisy ships earlier this year and in September 2022. The port said in January it intended to reduce noise levels from ships visiting the region.
