Auckland and Lyttelton ports looking overseas

By Yoke Har Lee

Ports of Auckland is teaming up with the Port of Lyttelton in a bid to operate a new terminal in Melbourne.

But the plan is being held up by a byelection which will determine whether the Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, will be able to retain power.

Ports of Auckland chief executive Geoff Vazey said the new two-berth container terminal would be capable of handling 500,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalents).

Mr Vazey said the two ports were seeking to register as prospective joint tenderer for the job.

Because of the state's involvement and the byelection, the port's offshore expansion plan was unlikely to happen any time soon, he added.

Auckland chose Lyttelton as its partner in expanding the expertise of its container company Axis Intermodal because Lyttelton was the second largest container player in the country.

Mr Vazey said in his annual report to shareholders that the face of the world port business was changing.

"Instead of being operated by local interests, many major container terminals are now being run by global companies that have operations in several countries."

The same was happening with the pilot and towing business, with international players keen to get into the New Zealand market, he said.

Mr Vazey said that with two-thirds of the company's business being in containers, that was where the future focus should be.

"Auckland's stevedoring business is by far the largest in New Zealand. And that is almost exclusively containers. If you think about where we might aim our focus for the future, it is obviously in containers."