Located at Marsden Point, New Zealand’s northern most port and just 139km north of Auckland, has been a bulk and forestry port since it opened in 2002.
Both Auckland and Tauranga have been particularly keen to see it develop container business in Northport but that appears to be changing, with Northport’s announcement that it will “purchase a USD5 million mobile crane for delivery by the end of the year, giving it the ability for the first time to load dedicated container vessels”.
The move will give local businesses the opportunity to access international container vessels without having to ship freight by road to or from other North Island ports.
“The Marsden Point facility will become initially a low-volume ‘feeder’ port for container traffic destined for export from North Island ports currently served by container lines” the port said in a statement.
“We estimate that Northland businesses transport cargo equivalent to about 40,000 20-foot containers each year southwards down State Highway 1, right past the road leading to our port,” said Chief executive Jon Moore.
“We’d like a slice of that business, for the benefit of ourselves and the wider Northland community, but to make it happen we need a crane.”
“This is a move we have been considering for some time and a second, back-up crane may also be considered in due course,” said Sir John Goulter, Chairman of Northport Ltd.
The port is also in the process of increasing its paved yard to accommodate container storage.