MAKING the New Zealand Port of Tauranga a single hub port for the country's box trade doesn't make sense in term of costs, said a Ministry of Transport study, according to Wellington area New Zealand City report.
The Future Freight Scenarios Study looked at 10 scheme for handling larger containerships, including various configurations of hub ports and the status quo, and does not advocate any.
Retaining the status quo had the lowest operating cost and using Port of Tauranga as a single hub had the highest.
If Tauranga became a sole international port - as many local partisans hope - the cost would be NZ$24.3 billion (US$18.5 billion), which is NZ$21.2 billion is higher operating costs today and 12 per cent higher than the status quo.
Road and railway tracks to Tauranga would need to be upgraded and the amount of freight on coastal ships would rise 400 per cent if Tauranga became the sole international port.
"Even though larger vessels with higher utilisation have been assumed in this scenario, these benefits do not offset the higher domestic transport costs," the study says.
The benefit-cost ratio for Tauranga as a single hub was the worst of all the scenarios tested. The study said New Zealand's ports are small by world standards and they need new equipment, longer berths and deeper channels to handle bigger ships.
New Zealand currently has 15 ports, 10 of which handle containers, but they are small. In 2013, Melbourne handled the equivalent of the total throughput of all New Zealand ports combined.
Today, the Ports of Auckland and Tauranga combined handle more than 60 per cent of all New Zealand container movement, each handling more than double the volume of Lyttelton, the No 3 port.
The report says Port of Tauranga is the only port with sufficient channel and berth depth and width to be ultimately capable of taking the 8,200-TEU vessels like the Sovereign Maersk.
Nick Brown, general manager aviation and maritime at the Ministry of Transport, said larger containerships will reduce the cost of international transport, but savings are likely be outweighed by higher domestic transport costs, particularly for exporters and importers far away from ports handling larger ships.
The average size of ships visiting New Zealand has increased from 1,700 TEU in 2007 to just under 3,000 TEU in 2013.
Carriers surveyed said the maximum size calling at New Zealand would be old panamaxes of 4,500 TEU, though a minority thought 8,000-TEUer would call sooner than the common view of about 10 years.
WORLD SHIPPING
09 December 2014 - 23:45
New Zealand government studies hub port options, Tauranga found wanting
MAKING the New Zealand Port of Tauranga a single hub port for the country's box trade doesn't make sense in term of costs, said a Ministry of Transport study, according to Wellington area New Zealand City report.
WORLD SHIPPING
09 December 2014 - 23:45
New Zealand government studies hub port options, Tauranga found wanting
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