Port of Tauranga

The Maori waka Takitimu, one of the great Maori migration canoes, is said to have entered the harbour ca. 1290 in its voyage from the Maori traditional homeland of Hawaiki.

Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook in the vessel HMS Endeavour passed close to the harbour in November 1769 on his voyage of exploration of New Zealand, but did not enter it.

The missionary schooner Herald was probably the first European vessel to enter the harbour, in 1828.

Subsequently, in 1853 Captain Drury in HMS Pandora surveyed and charted the coast and harbour as part of a broader maritime survey of New Zealand.

The first wharf was constructed in the 1860s, before which shipping operations took place from the beach. Passenger steamer services were operated from the 1870s, being discontinued in 1929 following the construction of a rail link to Hamilton in 1928.

In September 1873, the Port of Tauranga was officially established by order of the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir James Fergusson. The Lady Jocelyn of 2,138 tonnes was the first large sailing vessel recorded as entering the harbour, in 1882.[10]

Various schemes were proposed for dredging and other improvements to navigation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but little was done.

A Tauranga Harbour Board (later the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board) was constituted to administer the affairs of the harbour in 1912, first meeting in 1913.

In 1927 the Railway Wharf was completed and used almost exclusively for coastal shipping until the visit of the James Cook in 1948 to load timber for Australia. Timber subsequently became and remains a mainstay of cargoes out of the port.

Construction of the Mount Maunganui wharf started in 1953 and the first ship, the MV Korowai berthed at the new wharf on 5 December 1954.

In 1960 the port's first tug, the Mount Maunganui was commissioned. In 1967, the port handled its first shipping container. In 1972 the Port Caroline, then the world's largest conventional refrigerated cargo liner, visited the port for the first time.

The opening of the Kaimai rail tunnel by Sir Rob Muldoon in 1978 substantially reduced travelling times between the port and the rest of New Zealand.

In 1988, as a consequence of Government port reform, the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board established Port of Tauranga Limited as its operating vehicle. In 1989, the Harbour Board was disestablished and ownership of shares in the port passed to The Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils. The Company is now public, with a diverse shareholding.

The port continued to develop and modernize during the 1990s and 2000s. A significant development in 1999 was the establishment of New Zealand's first fully integrated inland port service, MetroPort Auckland.

In 2000, the port entered a 50:50 joint-venture with Northland Port Corporation (NZ) Limited to develop and operate a deepwater port at Marsden Point near Whangarei.

The port was a joint winner of the 2004 Australasian Port of the Year Award run by Lloyd's List Daily Commercial News, the first time a New Zealand port had won a Lloyd's List award.

With the trend to larger cargo vessels making fewer port calls, Tauranga has increasingly become the only New Zealand, or only North Island, port serviced by international shipping lines, at the expense of ports in Auckland, Wellington, Lyttleton (Christchurch) and elsewhere. Lines include FESCO New Zealand Express, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hamburg Sud, US Lines (later CMA CGM), Seatrade, Carpenter Shipping Service,

The port is now New Zealand's largest container terminal. It is handles a thriving cruise ship trade.

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.[11]

The facilities also include two cold stores of 20,000 and 9,000 tonnes, 2.5 hectares of covered storage, 38 hectares of paved container yard, and more than 90 hectares of reserve land for future facilities and storage. The port has Eight Liebherr container cranes, three of post panamax and five super post panamax.[12] A ninth Liebherr container crane will be delivered in January 2020.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] On the Mount Maunganui side of the harbour, the Port of Tauranga has 2,055m of linear (continuous) berth face. Immediately adjacent to the wharf are cargo sheds and a 20,000 tonne capacity coldstore. Spread along the wharf are 22 bunker points to allow ships to refuel while loading or unloading. More than 90 hectares of back-up land is available for cargo handling and storage. To the south of the Mount Maunganui Wharf is the Tanker Berth:

The Tanker Berth was completed in 1980 and is dedicated to the transfer of dangerous goods in bulk. Activities include the discharging and/or loading of tankers carrying bulk fluids such as hydrocarbon oil products, chemicals and edible oils. A conveyor system is also used for loading wood-chips. The facility consists of a free standing wharf of 80 metres in length with dolphins at each end allowing for ships of up to 250 metres LOA to berth and pump ashore.

On the western side of the Port is Sulphur Point. Opened in 1992, this facility features 770m of heavy-duty wharf, Eight container cranes and 38 hectares of paved container yard.[16]

More than 25,000 m2 of covered storage is available for cargo handling, and a further 9,000 tonne coldstore caters for temperature controlled cargo. 2,250 fixed reefer points are available for refrigerated containers.[16]

Port of Tauranga Ltd was established in 1985, and has also established MetroPort Auckland in 1999, an inland port service. • Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) for the year to 30 June 2019 rose 6.7% to a new record of $100.6 million.[17] Trading on the NZX as one of the 50 largest listed companies of New Zealand with a current share price of $6.45 as of 13 October 2019,[18] its market capitalisation is NZ$4.3 billion (13 October 2019).[19]

Several times in the late 2000s, Port of Tauranga proposed to buy or merge with its rival Ports of Auckland (POAL). These approaches were rebuffed by POAL (which is owned by the Auckland Regional Council, rather than listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange). In turn, Ports of Auckland proposed to buy only the container business of Ports of Tauranga, something which Port of Tauranga chairman John Parker argued would add little value.[20]

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• Official website