29 November 2011

CBAFF warns port industrial action will cause significant disruption

The Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Federation of New Zealand (CBAFF) has called for a “common sense approach” in the dispute between the Maritime Union and Ports of Auckland.

CBAFF vice president Trevor Duxfield said that the industrial action will have significant impact on CBAFF members, their importer and exporter clients and Auckland road carriers.

“There have been some statements made in the media that suggest the port ‘will still be working during the industrial action,’ said Mr Duxfield.

“However, that is misleading and the reality is that this industrial action will cause very significant disruption.

“We call for both parties to have a common sense approach to this situation with consideration to maintaining a sustainable and efficient supply chain for Auckland and the greater region.”

Mr Duxfield said that the majority of import and export cargo moving to Australia and beyond is on cellular container vessels which are handled at the Bledisloe and Fergusson container terminals that will be closed from 22.30 on Dec 1 to 22.30 on Dec 5, and from 22.30 on December 8 to 22.30 on December 12.

“There will be a compounding effect with only three days between the two periods of industrial action and we expect a rush to get containers processed and off the wharf,” he said.

“The general wharves, which are handled by independent stevedoring companies rather than Port of Auckland employees, will still be operating but these process the self-loading vessels, which mainly only serve the Pacific Islands.”

Mr Duxfield said it was currently estimated that the number of containers affected by vessels diverting from Auckland port due to the action was about 6,500 TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit, a measure used for capacity in container transportation).

“Due to the industrial action four vessels are diverting from Auckland port with three going to Tauranga and one to Wellington to discharge their containers, which will be railed to Auckland.

“We also expect significant delays in the import containers moving to Auckland simply due to the number of containers.”

“Our members are already seeing significant disruption to normal container cartage service around Auckland as carriers concentrate resources on moving containers off the Auckland port prior to the strike coming into effect on Thursday night.

“Exporters are now having difficulty utilising the rail service from Auckland to Tauranga to meet these diverted vessels as the rail service is at capacity. One shipping line has issued a release advising customers that if they need to make their vessel they will have to ‘make their own arrangements to deliver the containers directly to Tauranga Terminal’.”

Mr Duxfield said that CBAFF would also like to acknowledge the support Port of Tauranga is providing to this situation by accepting the vessels into their schedule and offering extra rail capacity with support from Kiwirail.

ENDS

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