Port of Tauranga

Pilot Boat from the Port of Tauranga

A cruise ship docked in the port.

Another view of the eastern port facilities (general freight areas) visible at the right, seen from Mount Maunganui.

View of the Port from Pilot Bay

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 (NZX: POT) being the company operating it. This article is about both the company and the port of Tauranga itself.

The port is located in a natural harbour protected by Mount Maunganui and Matakana Island, and is the only natural harbour between Auckland and Wellington offering good shelter in all weather.

History

The facilities of the harbour were usable by shallow-water ships only until the late 1950s, when a study by the Wallingford Hydraulics Research Station, England, financed by the Tauranga Harbour Board, led to a major dredging program, which deepened the entry channel and the roadsteads, with much of the spoil also used to reclaim areas of wharves along the eastern side of the harbour and create the new 80ha Sulphur Point port area. Between 1961 and 1978, the changes helped to improve maximum draught from 7.3m to 10.7m, increased the berthage length from 372 1843 and provided a major slipway/jetty. It also made the port into one of the major import-export hubs of the country.

Facilities

The port has a total of 15 berths, of which 12 are located on the Mount Maunganui side of the harbour (general cargo such as wood, coal handling facilities, bulk liquids), while another 3 are located at the NZ$ 100 million Tauranga Terminal (containers, including refrigerated freight) at Sulphur Point on the Tauranga side.

The facilities also include two cold stores of 20,000 and 9,000 tonnes, 2.5 hectares of covered storage, 27 hectares of paved container yard, and more than 90 hectares of reserve land for future facilities and storage. The port has five Liebherr container cranes, one of panamax size, three of post panamax and one super post panamax.^{[citation needed]} The container facilities served a total of 486 container ships in the 2007 financial year, which is set to grow by another 52 ships per year, with the port landing a major contract with CMA CGM in early 2008.

Port of Tauranga also operates an inland port in Southdown, Auckland, and for $15 million has recently (March 2010) acquired another freight hub, Tapper Transport, located adjacent to the site, intending to expand their Auckland business by adding Tapper's 90,000 TEU annual turnover to their existing business.

Company

Port of Tauranga Ltd was established in 1985, and has also established MetroPort Auckland in 1999, an inland port service. The net profit for the year to 30 June 2006 was NZ$ 31 million, down 7.8%. Trading on the NZX as one of the 50 largest listed companies of New Zealand, its market capitalisation is NZ$ 417 million (2 October 2007).

Several times in the late 2000s, Port of Tauranga has proposed to buy (or merge with) its larger rival Ports of Auckland (POAL). While this has been rebuffed by POAL (which is owned by the Auckland Regional Council, rather than listed on the NZX), Port of Tauranga is still as of August 2008 insisting that a merger of various New Zealand ports is required to make them competitive to Australia, or risk becoming a country solely of reshipment ports. In turn Ports of Auckland has proposed to buy only the container business of Ports of Tauranga, something which Port of Tauranga chairman John Parker notes would add little value.

External links

• Port of Tauranga Limited (official port website)