Ships to pass the night waiting out Y2K hours

Ships which turn up at major New Zealand ports on New Year's Eve will be left out in the cold until the threat of the millennium bug hitting their computer systems has passed.

Auckland's ports will be offlimits to large ships between 11 pm on December 31 and 1 am on January 1, then from midday to 2 pm on January 1 to cover ships that use Greenwich Mean Time.

Similar no-go times have been imposed in other ports including Whangarei, Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth and Wellington. Ships' movements will be at the discretion of each harbourmaster.

The Waitemata Harbour may also be restricted because of millennium festivities between 4 am and 6 am on New Year's Day, when a flotilla of 2000 craft is expected to escort a waka leaving North Head for Okahu Bay.

Ports of Auckland spokeswoman Karren Beanland said the company was satisfied most of its regular services were Y2K-compliant.

However, the nature of shipping meant that the ports could be given only two to three days' notice of a ship wanting to enter port. If there was any doubt, it would be asked to wait outside the harbour for Y2K checks.

Little commercial traffic was expected on the harbour during the New Year.

Harbourmaster James McPetrie said transferring fuel would also be prohibited during the restricted hours because automatic shut-off systems could fail.