Ports of Auckland looks inland for container site

By PAM GRAHAM


Ports of Auckland is turning land at Wiri into an inland-container handling site and is not ruling out development of land it owns at Southdown.

According to Ports of Auckland chief executive Geoff Vazey freight handling sites are being opened inland because it is cheaper than "throwing rocks in the sea" and can be a way of getting new customers. The cost has to be weighed against double handling of freight.

Freight transitting to the port is handled at a 10ha site in East Tamaki where Fisher & Paykel is the main client, but a site at Otahuhu developed by a Malaysian company has closed.

Everyone in the industry is watching what happens at Southdown where Toll NZ has its main railhead; Port of Tauranga has an inland port; Tapper Transport has a depot and Ports of Auckland has 18ha of land.

"Obviously we're not favouring Southdown because our competitor is right there and we believe Wiri can do a good job," said Vazey. But he is not ruling out developing Southdown, saying the port was looking at uses for it.

"I can't tell you exactly what we're doing. Watch this space."

Vazey refuses to say what the port will do with the $54 million it got yesterday for its marina assets. Shareholders expect it to be passed on.

He said the port would not make a decision until it had been through a planning exercise.

A big issue was whether it would be economical to link any of the inland sites to the port by rail.

East Tamaki had no rail access and it was a difficult road trip to the port.

Vazey said everyone in the industry was talking to Toll NZ. Rail links to inland sites from Auckland had been discussed with the old Tranz Rail but they had not happened.

Ports of Auckland was developing inland sites not because the port was congested but because the roads to it were, especially at peak hours.

He said the port had to dredge its channel because ships were getting bigger.

P&O Nedlloyd's fleet of 4100s calls at Auckland but ships were being built that carried 9000 containers, more than double the capacity.

Vazey said 50 per cent of the new ships being built carried more than 5000 containers.

"Growth in the size of ships has been greater than anticipated, so demand is not so much for berth length, it is for land space," said Vazey.