Ports spokesman Matt Ball said that in this case the application was for a written authority that it was complying with the building code and would not be open for public submissions.
All resource consents needed for reclamation and building the new wharf were granted in 1998 when the former Auckland Regional Council and Auckland City Council agreed on the Port Development Plan.
Mr Ball said the application covered a 50m extension of the terminal's main wharf northward into the harbour, to be joined to a new wharf which would extend east for 296m across the north face of the reclamation.
The area between the new piled wharf and the existing eastern edge of the terminal was being reclaimed using dredgings from port maintenance.
Mr Ball said if consent came through, a much-needed third berth for the terminal could be built in 18 months.
The company had no other major works planned pending the outcome of the Port Future Study.
Last month, after extension plans for Bledisloe Wharf caused thousands of Aucklanders to take part in a "Save our Harbour" campaign, the High Court ruled that consents for the project were invalid because the public were not given a say.
The Urban Auckland group of architects and planning professionals brought that case.
Spokeswoman Julie Stout said the group had been aware of the plans to finish the Fergusson Terminal expansion and that its resource consents had been in place for some time.
"But we were focussing our efforts on making sure that the Bledisloe did not extend any further.
"We did not have much hope of stopping the Fergusson.
"The good thing is that the ports have assured us that once that is in place, Fergusson is good for the next 35 years for container work."
The Fergusson Container Terminal was created on 20.4ha reclaimed from the harbour and in 1973 received its first container ship visit.
Under the 1998 resource consents, a first stage expansion of 5.8ha and deepening of the shipping channel was finished in 2007.
