Port of Tauranga Slams Latest Delay in Approving Expansion

New Zealand’s biggest port, Tauranga, has slammed further delays in the long-delayed review of large-scale improvements to its harbor, which it says would pump millions of dollars into the country’s economy.

The project has been in the consenting system for more than six years. Tauranga’s application for its greenlighting under the Fast-track Approvals Act was halted by a judicial review due to a "legislative drafting error" that left the words “Mount Maunganui wharves” out of the project description.

A fast-track panel, which was intended to commence sittings on September 1 to review the project and potentially approve it, has indefinitely been put on hold by the High Court.

Port of Tauranga has described the decision as both “ludicrous” and “frustrating”, and it says the delays in approving the project are reaching crisis point. The port is being forced to turn away shipping services due to a lack of berth capacity, and New Zealand is facing the risk of being bypassed by international services, the port warns. 

Last month, for instance, the port was forced to decline a proposed new service to the Americas that would have saved New Zealand importers and exporters millions per year in freight costs. A report by the NZ Institute of Economic Research has also estimated that, without the container berth extension, the country will miss out on NZ$485 million to NZ$749 million of annual gross domestic product by 2032.

“It is very frustrating that in the midst of significant interest from international container lines, we are unable to support new trade opportunities because we don’t have the berth space,” said Julia Hoare, Port of Tauranga Chair. “We have also lost the flexibility to readily manage congestion when ships turn up off-schedule. When arrivals bunch up, we’re forced to further delay ships at anchor and productivity decreases."

Currently, the port has a dedicated container terminal at Sulphur Point, with bulk cargo wharves at Mount Maunganui, both of which are connected by the Tauranga Harbor Bridge. The Sulphur Point container berths are operating at almost full capacity due to demand and the growing global trend that is seeing the building of larger ships.

The new project aims to convert existing cargo storage land into usable berths on both sides of the harbor, growing the port's capacity. The first stage of Sulphur Point extension will add 285 meters of berth to the south of the existing wharves and will allow the port to expand capacity from the current 1.2 million TEU to 2 million TEU annually. This will enable the terminal to accommodate three or four ships at once, instead of the current two.

The Mount Maunganui expansion involves a berth extension of 315 meters (plus mooring dolphins), a development that is aimed at relieving capacity pressure and allowing for the future replacement of the oldest, original part of the port, midway along the Mount wharves.

Despite the controversies facing the Stella Passage project, Tauranga has had stellar performance over the past financial year. New Zealand’s busiest port posted a seven percent increase in total trade to 25.3 million tonnes with container volumes increasing by 5.3 percent to 1.2 million TEUs. During the year, the port saw its profits hit NZ$126 million, a 23% increase year over year.