Port Otago leads way to next generation

Port Otago will become the first port in New Zealand to deepen its shipping channel for the next generation of container shipping as part of a $30 million upgrade over the next two years.

The infrastructural works programme, ‘Next Generation Port Otago’ will allow larger ships to access Port Chalmers while bolstering the port’s services to exporters.

Geoff Plunket, Port Otago Chief Executive, said Next Generation was a forward looking programme to upgrade the port’s efficiency and productivity for the next generation of its users. “It highlights our resolve to remain at the forefront of shipping and port activity in New Zealand and as a major contributor to the region’s economic growth.”

The capital works programme includes:
1. Deepening of the shipping channel to 14 metres by end-2016
2. Deepening the berths and sheet piling to support the wharf
3. Warehouse expansion at both Port Chalmers and Sawyers Bay
4. Actively investigating the purchase of a new tug and barge.
The planned infrastructural expansion would add an estimated 15 full time jobs to the port’s current workforce of 300. It also follows on from a 10 year programme of capital investment including the recent purchase of a new 68-tonne bollard pull tug, a new pilot launch, two new container cranes and a number of four-high straddles.
Mr Plunket said continual infrastructure upgrades were a necessary response to rapid changes to the international shipping environment. “Our service is linked to our capacity. It’s something every generation of the Port has been aware of since our inception more than 130 years ago and it’s allowed us to stay in the vanguard of shipping activity.

“To maintain our relevance within the international supply chain requires continued development, ensuring we can cater for larger container ships of the order of 6,000 to 8,000 TEUs and that there is enough cargo available to fill those bigger ships for decades to come.”

Port Otago is already the deepest container port in the country at 13 metres (chart datum or low tide) and is unique in that it can operate at all stages of the tide.

With resource consent to deepen the shipping channel to a maximum of 15 metres for larger ships Port Otago will become the first to begin actual dredging. The first milestone will be to deepen to 14 metres and this will be done in two stages, with deepening of the existing channel to 13.5 metres by end 2015 and to 14 metres by December 2016.

Mr Plunket said that while other ports may dredge their channel to a similar depth, they were limited in only being able to receive ships on slack water (the top or bottom of the tide) due to strong tidal flows experienced at these ports. “Unlike other ports we also own our own dredge, the New Era, which is able to complete the work on a cost efficient basis and with as little environmental impact as possible.”

In line with the channel deepening, container berths would also be deepened, requiring additional reinforcement of the wharf structures by constructing sheet piles along the berth line as an underwater retaining wall. “This is complex work and following a two-stage tender process, Port Otago has contracted Daniel Smith Industries to supply and drive the piles. As the work can’t be undertaken while vessels are at berth we will temporarily close the inner container wharf to all vessels during the low volume season between 1 July and mid-October this year.”
Following completion of the berth sheet piling work, the 135 metre extension of Container Wharf No 2 is expected to start in mid to late 2016.

Capacity at Port Otago will also be increased through expanding the Port Chalmers’ Back Beach warehouses, increasing on wharf dairy storage capacity by 25% and developing an additional 3,800m² warehouse at Sawyer’s Bay, which will add a further 10% to the port’s current warehousing capacity. Construction is expected to commence on both sites during the second half of 2015 and take about four months to complete at a total cost of about $11 million.

Aligned to the expansion, the port is actively investigating the purchase of a new tug and split-hopper barge at a cost of about $7 million. Said Mr Plunket: “This will provide greater efficiency in disposing of dredge material as it can be operated separately from New Era activity. Further, it provides the port with a flexible asset pool which could service all of Port Otago’s maintenance dredging and marine structure task for the next 20 years.”
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