Coastal shipping revival mooted for New Zealand

<p>The New Zealand Ministry of Transport would work to support an increase in the share of freight being moved by coastal shipping, transport minister Annette King told <em>Lloyd’s List DCN</em> .</p> <p>Ms King said that the consolidation of calls made to New Zealand ports by the major shipping lines &#8211 in particular, Maersk’s decision to hub from the Port of Auckland &#8211 presented opportunities to both the coastal shipping trade, and to smaller regional ports.</p> <p>The ministry would release a discussion document, based on the New Zealand Shipping Federation’s <em>Roadways to Waterways</em> issues paper for industry consultation in October, Ms King said.</p> <p>&#8220We want to pick up hubs in New Zealand that the major shippers won’t go to,&#8221 she said.</p> <p>&#8220Say New Zealand ends up with two or three major ports that the major shippers call in to, we then have to shift product by rail, air and sea. </p> <p>&#8220We’re trying to prepare ourselves for a pattern that’s emerging in international shipping by utilising our coast.&#8221</p> <p>The use of coastal shipping in New Zealand &#8220virtually disappeared&#8221 in the early 1990s, when island trade was opened up to international shippers, Ms King said.</p> <p>&#8220It has almost disappeared,&#8221 she said. &#8220We, as an island nation, can’t afford not to have the use of that trade.&#8221</p> <p>Pacifica Shipping is the only registered coastal shipping operation in New Zealand.</p> <p>The operation services two vessels the <em>Spirit of Resolution </em> and the <em>Spirit of Competition, </em> which call at Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Timaru, Dunedin, Lyttelton and Nelson.</p> <br />