Coastal freight shipping catches on
Using coastal shipping to send Northland dairy exports overseas via a weekly container service between Northport and Port of Tauranga has proved a viable alternative to road transport, those involved say.
An initial trial, involving Fonterra and Kotahi, New Zealand’s largest containerised freight manager, took place last year and saw about 100 refrigerated containers full of dairy produce carried to Port of Tauranga by Pacifica Shipping.
Northport’s commercial manager David Finchett said the port had been in discussion with the Fonterra and Kotahi ‘for some time’ around the efficiencies offered by coastal shipping for Northland dairy products exported through Tauranga.
Road transport disruptions and the introduction last May of Pacifica’s weekly coastal shipping service had triggered the decision to shift from road to sea.
At the time of the launch of Pacifica Shipping’s weekly container service Finchett said it would ensure much more frequent, efficient connections between Northland and the world, and give shippers more options to reduce their carbon footprint and improve supply chain resilience and efficiency.
David Ross, chief executive of Kotahi says the coastal shipping trial of refrigerated containers from Northport to Port of Tauranga had been successful.
“The trial demonstrated that Northport is an efficient transport option to build stability to NZ’s supply chain and ensure product can get to export markets reliably.
“Following this success, we are now trialling coastal shipping dry containers between Northport and Port of Tauranga which will likely run into the New Year and offer an alternative to planned rail closures.”
The NZ Shipping Federation says that coastal shipping produces significantly lower emissions per tonne of freight than other modes of freight transportation.
European Union figures show that coastal shipping produces around 12.5 per cent of the emissions per tonne of freight moved by road and around 60 per cent of the emissions per tonne of freight moved by rail.
A more recent University of Canterbury study, which includes port-side emissions, indicates that in the NZ context coastal shipping produces around 20 per cent of the emissions per tonne of freight moved by road, and just under half the emissions of rail.
The Ministry of Transport forecasts that total freight volumes will increase by at least 50 per cent by 2040. This builds on a 50 per cent increase in freight volumes moved by coastal shipping over the past 10 years.
“We’re pleased to help Northland exporters drive this change,” Northport’s Finchett says.
“They can have their containers loaded at Northport and just over 12 hours later the ship will be in Tauranga, from where there are regular connections available to almost anywhere.”
The weekly service has also improved freight transit times for Northland importers, bypassing State Highway 1 roadworks and detours, Auckland traffic and Cook Strait.