Port of Tauranga Announces Dredging Project

In order to attract larger ships and thereby boost cargo traffic in the port, New Zealand’s pre-eminent freight gateway, the Port of Tauranga is about to begin $50 million worth harbor and channel-dredging works.

This was announced today October 23rd by the Port of Tauranga Chairman, Mr. David Pilkington at the company’s Annual Meeting.

Following his opening statement, Mr. Pilkington continued by saying that the company is preparing for a future in which much larger ships will become regular callers to the port. “We will soon begin the harbor and channel-dredging that will allow us to accommodate these vessels. This $50 million investment will complete a $250 million capital expenditure programme that prepares us for the future.”

“This programme includes an extension to our Sulphur Point wharves, an upgrading of our tug services, the addition of container cranes and straddles and our strategic investments in the South Island,” added Mr. Pilkington.

The company is progressing with the harbor dredging programme in Tuaranga and will soon start calling for tenders to undertake this work, which is scheduled to begin by mid-2015.

“I should point out that it is not just container ships that are growing in size. We are also seeing increasingly larger cruise ships and bulk cargo vessels that will also be able to utilize the deeper draft following the completion of our dredging programme,” said Mr. Mark Cairns, CEO of the Port of Tauranga.

“We will invest approximately $250 million over the period between 2012 to 2016 to enable Tauranga to be “big-ship” capable and we expect to increase container throughput from last year’s 760,000 TEUs to over 1,000,000 TEUs by 2017,” said Cairns.

According to the port’s plan, channel deepening and widening works will increase inner harbor depth from current 13 meters to 16 meters and outer harbor from current 14.1m to 17.4m.

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Dredging Today Staff