Up to 1000 truckloads could be needed to move the cargo off the biggest container ship to ever berth at Northport, adding to traffic between Marsden Pt and Auckland.
Heavy ship congestion in Auckland and other busy ports around New Zealand means the 261m long, 4500-container carrier Constantinos P will offload at Northport from Sunday morning until her expected departure around midday on Wednesday.
Deliveries of its imports are expected to start heading south on trucks from 6am on Thursday. Options for coastal ship deliveries to uncongested ports in Auckland and elsewhere are also being explored.
Northport is bracing for the challenge and the company is already fielding requests by other shipping lines if it can help with similar shipments with its limited resources.
Constantinos P is carrying 1340 containers but their sizes are unknown. Assuming all containers are 40 foot (12m) each, a truck can safely carry only one container at a time which means more than 1000 trips to and from Northport.