Rena Spill: Port of Tauranga ready to shut if needed

The port is prepared to temporarily shut down if there is any safety risk posed by the floating containers from the Rena, stranded on the Astrolabe Reef. Photo / Alan Gibson

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Port of Tauranga says it will continue to ship and receive cargo despite the threat of more containers falling into the sea from the wrecked Rena.

However, the port's chief executive, Mark Cairns, said the company was prepared to temporarily shut down if the flotsam posed any safety risk.

If operations were stalled, analysts said the financial impact on the port would be "immaterial".

"We value the business as an ongoing entity, so shutting down for one day in its life cycle is irrelevant. The only reason [Rena] would be a meaningful event is [if] you thought this would have some implications for the operations of the port on a long-term basis," said Goldman Sachs analyst Marcus Curley.

Curley said a day's outage would amount to around $500,000 of lost revenue for the port, which was relatively immaterial to a business valued at $1.3 billion.

First NZ Capital's Rob Bode agreed a brief shutdown would be a minor event.

"The odd day or two is not going to make much [difference] in the overall scheme of things.

"It is a risk and we understand navigational warnings have gone out and ships are being re-routed but there's been no impact on cargo flows or deviation from normal schedules at this stage," he said.

Port of Tauranga shares closed last night at $9.24, down 3.75 per cent.

Two major exporters who use the port, Zespri and Fonterra, said they could redirect cargo elsewhere if shipping was stopped.

Zespri was at the "tail-end" of its operations for the 2011 season and had only three shipments out of 61 still to leave the country, a company representative said.

Although the port was operational yesterday, Cairns said the company was keeping a close eye on shipping channels.

"Maritime New Zealand and the NZ Defence Force are monitoring the containers in the water, [identifying] them and getting them out of the water as soon as possible and we're keepinga close watch on where theyare."

Shipping traffic had also changed its routes in accordance with advice from authorities and the port was using equipment to detect hazards, Cairns said.

"We're starting to tow a magnetometer and side-mounted sonar to ensure we keep the shipping channels clear."

Last night, Maritime New Zealand said a confirmed 27 containers had fallen into the sea with more believed to be falling from the grounded cargo vessel.