Ports of Auckland
Encyclopedia
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
area (excluding the ferry terminals and local marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
s for recreational yachting
Yachting
Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...
), this article is about both the current company and the ports of Auckland themselves.
Infrastructure
Auckland has two commercial harbours (not counting ferry terminals), with an international container port in Auckland and a regional port in Onehunga. There is also an associated 'inland portInland port
The term inland port is used in two different but related ways to mean either a port on an inland waterway or an inland site carrying out some functions of a seaport.- As a port on an inland waterway :...
' (reshipment terminals without direct maritime access) serving the national reshipment trade, located in Wiri
Wiri
Wiri is a mostly industrial-commercial focused suburb in Manukau City, located to the southwest of the city.As of 2009, Ports of Auckland is building an inland port / rail siding in Wiri, to connect road freight to the port facilities on the Waitemata Harbour further north...
, South Auckland. In its facilities, the company employs the equivalent of 550 full time staff and is in operation at all hours to allow for quick turnaround of cargo.
Port of Auckland
The Port of Auckland is large container and international trade port on the Waitemata HarbourWaitemata Harbour
The quite famous Waitemata Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is only one of two harbours surrounding the city, and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Waitemata forms the north...
, lying on the central and eastern Auckland waterfront
Auckland waterfront
The Auckland waterfront is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitemata Harbour coastline in Auckland City, New Zealand...
(north of Auckland CBD
Auckland CBD
The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...
). The 55ha of wharves and storage areas (mostly for containers, cars and other large cargos) are almost exclusively situated on reclaimed land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
, mostly in the former Commercial Bay
Commercial Bay
Commercial Bay was the bay on the southern side of the Waitemata Harbour, formerly defining the original extent of the Auckland waterfront, Auckland, New Zealand...
, Official Bay and in Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay is the name of a former bay on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland City, New Zealand. It is also the name used to describe the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities...
.
Wharves (from west to east) are:
- Wynyard WharfWestern ReclamationThe Wynyard Quarter is a reclaimed piece of land on the Waitemata Harbour at the western edge of the Auckland waterfront, New Zealand....
(also known as 'Tank Farm' or 'Western Reclamation', west of Viaduct BasinViaduct BasinViaduct Basin is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront, now turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a formerly run-down area of the Freemans Bay / Auckland CBD waterfront in Auckland City, New Zealand...
and mostly used for chemicals and liquids storage. It is to be turned into a mixed-use development and a park within the next decades) - Princes WharfPrinces WharfPrinces Wharf is a former commercial wharf on the Auckland waterfront, in Auckland City, New Zealand, which has been redeveloped into a multi-story high-class mixed-use development and cruise ship terminal....
(residential development and cruise shipCruise shipA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
terminal) - Queens Wharf (proposed additional cruise ship terminal)
- Captain Cook Wharf
- Marsden Wharf
- Bledisloe Wharf (on which Stadium New ZealandStadium New ZealandStadium New Zealand, often called the Waterfront Stadium, was the provisional name for a national stadium proposed for Auckland's waterfront to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The stadium never advanced beyond a concept design....
was once supposed to be built) - Jellicoe Wharf
- Freyburg Wharf
- Fergusson Wharf (a very large container trade reclamation from the 1960s)
POAL bought three new large container cranes in 2006 from Chinese firm Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. for NZ$27 million, now installed at the Axis Intermodal Terminal at Fergusson wharf, where they join two older cranes bought in 2001. The new cranes are the largest in New Zealand, weighing 1,250 tonnes each. Standing 103 m high with a 56 m boom length, they are capable of lifting two 20 feet (6.1 m) containers at once, with speeds of up to 150 m per minute. They were bought to provide the necessary lifting capacity and reach for Post-Panamax ships. Their generators can provide emergency power to refrigerated containers in case of power failure. The port has also upgraded most of the straddle carrier
Straddle carrier
A straddle carrier is a non road going vehicle for use in port terminals and intermodal yards used for stacking and moving ISO standard containers. Straddles pick and carry containers while straddling their load and connecting to the top lifting points via a container spreader. These machines have...
fleet to the most modern version Noell Straddles, with diesel-electric power.
Port of Onehunga
This second harbour is a smaller facility near OnehungaOnehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is eight kilometres south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie....
on the Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
, south of Auckland City
Auckland City
Auckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
. While it is much closer to the industrialized parts of southern Auckland and Manukau City, the access via the shallow entrance of Manukau Harbour, and the generally less extensive facilities mean that it is of much less significance than the main port, and is used mostly for coastal reshipment within New Zealand, such as for bringing in cement from Westport
Westport, New Zealand
-Economy:Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today . However, the region still is home to New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation in Stockton...
.
Chelsea Wharf
Chelsea Wharf, in BirkenheadBirkenhead, New Zealand
Birkenhead is a suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the north shore of the Waitemata Harbour, four kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre....
, North Shore City, not part of the current POAL facilities, serves the Chelsea Sugar Refinery
Chelsea Sugar Refinery
The Chelsea Sugar Refinery, also known colloquially as "Chelsea" and the "sugar works", is a long-established business and landmark in Birkenhead, New Zealand, located on the northern shore of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. It was established in 1884, and remains New Zealand's main source of sugar...
, which has operated since 1884. The nine hectares of the land were leased from POAL, but purchased by Chelsea in 1997. Ships with unrefined sugar (mostly from Australia) arrive at the wharf every six weeks, and as they generally exceed , the ships are legally required to use pilotage
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
, managed by the Ports of Auckland's Harbour Control.
Wiri Inland Port
An inland port in South Auckland which functions as a rail exchange between the sea port and the national rail network.Turnover
Freight
Visited by around 1,600 commercial vessels a year, Auckland is New Zealand's largest commercial port, its turnover of more than NZ$20 billion per year substantially exceeding that of major rival Port of TaurangaPort of Tauranga
Port of Tauranga is the port of Tauranga, New Zealand, the largest port in the country in terms of total cargo volume, and the second largest in terms of container throughput. with Port of Tauranga Ltd being the company operating it...
. Ports of Auckland handles the movement of 60% of New Zealand's imports and 40% of its exports (both by value, 2006), respectively 50% of the North Island's container trade, and 37% of all New Zealand's container trade (2007). It moves 4 million tonnes of 'breakbulk' cargo per year (2006), as well as around 773,160 twenty-foot equivalent containers units
Twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
per year (2007).
Another major import are used cars, with approximately 166,000 landed per year. The cars are mainly relatively new Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese models, due to the very strict technical requirements of the Japanese road authorities. Due to the very strict biosecurity
Biosecurity
Biosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive alien species, living modified organisms...
regulations administered by the MAF
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (New Zealand)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is the state sector organisation of New Zealand which deals with matters relating to agriculture, forestry and biosecurity...
, cars (and many other goods) have to pass through a decontamination facility, which strongly increases turnover times.
Cruise ships
In the 2005/2006 season, POAL catered for 48 cruise shipCruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
visits (at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Princes Wharf
Princes Wharf
Princes Wharf is a former commercial wharf on the Auckland waterfront, in Auckland City, New Zealand, which has been redeveloped into a multi-story high-class mixed-use development and cruise ship terminal....
), with more than 100,000 passengers passing through the port, mostly disembarking for short stopover trips into Auckland or the surrounding region. Each of the ships is estimated to add about NZ$1 million to the regional economy. For 2007/2008, the total was forecast at 73 ship visits, another strong increase.
So far, the largest ship to visit was the Queen Mary 2, which had to be diverted to Jellicoe Wharf in the freight part of the port due to its size. However, the largest one-day turnover came in February 2007, when the Statendam and the Sapphire Princess
Sapphire Princess
The Sapphire Princess is a cruise ship owned by Princess Cruises which entered service in 2004. It is one of the world's largest cruise ships, with a capacity of approximately 2670 passengers and is the sixth Gem Class ship built by Princess Cruises....
were due in Auckland to exchange around 8,000 people at the terminal, the equivalent of 19 Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
jumbo jets.
Economic impact
According to an economic impact assessment, 173,000 jobs in the Auckland RegionAuckland Region
The Auckland Region was one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. With one third of the nation's residents, it was by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area.On 1...
rely on trade through the ports and the ports have an impact on a third of the local economy. Ports of Auckland is 100% held by Auckland Regional Holdings, an Auckland Regional Council
Auckland Regional Council
The Auckland Regional Council was the regional council of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989...
(ARC) investment entity. Annual dividend
Dividend
Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
s to the ratepayers within the last 15 years (as of 2006) have totalled NZ$500 million.
History
Commercial Bay
Commercial Bay was the bay on the southern side of the Waitemata Harbour, formerly defining the original extent of the Auckland waterfront, Auckland, New Zealand...
in the 1840s, and expanding via the land reclamation schemes that transformed the whole of the Auckland waterfront
Auckland waterfront
The Auckland waterfront is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitemata Harbour coastline in Auckland City, New Zealand...
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries (and still continue today, especially at Fergusson Wharf), the port became the largest of New Zealand (and has been since at least 1924, incidentally the same year the Port of Onehunga was opened).
19th century
The initial establishment of the harbour facilities in Commercial Bay and Official Bay suffered from the tidal mudflatMudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s that made establishing good wharves difficult. After control of the Waitemata Harbour passed to the Auckland Provincial Council in 1853, the Council did much work on improving the facilities, which included constructing the first Queen Street Wharf, building a quay along Customs Street and a breakwater at Point Britomart
Point Britomart
Point Britomart is a former headland in the Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay, it was later quarried away to produce fill for land reclamation in Mechanics Bay, and no physical trace remains at street level in what is today an area of the...
.
After the Auckland Harbour Board was established in 1871 by the Council, further wharves were added and massive reclamation works were undertaken, eventually making Freemans Bay
Freemans Bay
Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The historical bay was filled in to a large extent, and lost its shoreline to reclamation works...
and Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay
Mechanics Bay is the name of a former bay on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland City, New Zealand. It is also the name used to describe the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities...
lose their natural shoreline, while Commercial Bay (today the site of much of the Auckland CBD
Auckland CBD
The Auckland CBD is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. Bounded by several major motorways and by the harbour coastline in the north, it is surrounded further out by mostly suburban areas...
and the Auckland waterfront) was totally lost to history. The newly reclaimed land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
allowed the construction of a railway wharf
Rail yard
A rail yard, or railroad yard, is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic....
and new dockyard facilities. New facilities were also built on the other side of the harbour, at Devonport
Devonport, New Zealand
Devonport is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, at the southern end of a peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the northern side of the Waitemata Harbour...
, with the 'Calliope Dock' being the largest drydock in the southern hemisphere in 1888.
20th century
By the early 20th century, commercial and passenger traffic was already very busy, with large passenger liners from Europe and the USA arriving regularly. Though the Second World War collapsed the nascent tourist trade, the US entering the war in 1941 led to it basing a part of its fleet operations in Auckland, necessitating further expansion of the harbour facilities. In 1943 alone, 104 warships and 284 transports visited Auckland. During this time, 24/7 operations began.After the war, the expansion continued, with the Import and Freyberg Wharves opening in 1961, as well as the creation of the Overseas Passenger Terminal on Princess Wharf. During the late 1960s, the massive, deep-draught Fergusson Wharf was established to serve the beginning container
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
trade. While finished in 1971, it took until 1973 for the first container vessel to arrive, though the general container trend was not to avoid the port.
In 1985, the Harbour Board's computer system was broken into by a teenaged hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
. Although it was not the first hacking incident to be reported in New Zealand, it was one of the first to feature in a major TV news story.
In 1988 the Auckland Harbour Board and operations of the port were corporatised handed over to a newly formed company, Ports of Auckland, by Act of Parliament. The change in management increased productivity, but also led to substantial cuts in the directly employed workforce. Around 20% of the shares were initially floated to the public when Environment Waikato sold its stake, but Auckland Regional Holdings later repurchased all those shares from minority interests and in 2005 gained full ownership for the Auckland Regional Council.
21st century
Now being the third largest container terminal in AustralasiaAustralasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, as well as New Zealand's busiest port, little remains in terms of the original facilities. Even so, Ports of Auckland is still expanding and changing at a quick pace, with further reclamation worked planned to shift harbour operations further east, in connection with future needs as well as the plans for a more accessible Auckland waterfront.
In 2007, with a big increase in shipping traffic being projected (due to the Maersk
A.P. Moller-Maersk Group
A.P. Moller – Maersk Group , also known as Maersk , is a Danish business conglomerate. A.P. Moller – Maersk Group has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily within the transportation and energy sectors. It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the...
shipping line choosing Auckland as a hub for the Fonterra
Fonterra
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
export traffic), POAL considered a merger with Port of Tauranga
Port of Tauranga
Port of Tauranga is the port of Tauranga, New Zealand, the largest port in the country in terms of total cargo volume, and the second largest in terms of container throughput. with Port of Tauranga Ltd being the company operating it...
, which did not come to pass. In the same year, volumes at the port rose 12.6% while profits, after deducting one-time items and property investments unrelated to the port operation, remained similar to 2006 (then NZ$55.9 million).
In its 2008 plan, POAL proposed to extend the Fergusson and Bledisloe terminals into one large area mainly intended for container handling. The change is to increase the port's capacity by 250%, and allow ships with up to 7,000 containers to use its facilities, where the current limit is about 4,000. The extension would include the purchase of even larger cranes, topping out at 94m, while containers on the wharf may be stacked as high as six-storey buildings.
In 2009, POAL noted that while container business in the past year had increased and profits in that sector had grown due to productivity gains and more consolidation of the industry towards larger ports like Auckland, there was a significant reduction in car import business due to the recession, which reduced the company's profits by 26% to $12.6m for the last half year to 31 December 2008.
From early 2010, Ports of Auckland has operated a new inland port
Inland port
The term inland port is used in two different but related ways to mean either a port on an inland waterway or an inland site carrying out some functions of a seaport.- As a port on an inland waterway :...
/ rail siding
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
in Wiri
Wiri
Wiri is a mostly industrial-commercial focused suburb in Manukau City, located to the southwest of the city.As of 2009, Ports of Auckland is building an inland port / rail siding in Wiri, to connect road freight to the port facilities on the Waitemata Harbour further north...
to connect road freight to the port facilities via freight trains. The new facility allows Ports of Auckland to reduce the amount of trucks that have to travel through the Auckland Central area by up to 100,000 trips a year.
External links
- Ports of Auckland (official port website)