New Zealand South Island Port Otago plans deep-water facilities

NEW ZEALAND's Port Otago has unveiled plans to establish itself as the only deep-water port on South Island to avoid the fate of becoming a feeder port for other ports in the nation.

To realise this goal, the company said it will deepen and widen the Otago Harbour channel and redevelop wharves, berths and the container terminal.

The plan aims to turn the port into a facility that can accommodate 6,000 TEU vessels in three to four years' time in a development dubbed the "next generation" for Port Otago.

Said Port Otago CEO Geoff Plunket said: "It is essential for Dunedin, and the lower half of the South Island, that Port Otago remains a strong and significant part of New Zealand's international trading supply chain. To make sure that happens, Port Chalmers must be able to handle the largest ships that come to New Zealand," he said in a report from the New Zealand Press Association.

Mr Plunket said the project was being driven by an increase in dairy and primary resources being exported from the Otago region, adding that the strong export growth was forecast to continue.

In support of the proposal that requires official approval, Port Otago commercial manager Peter Brown said "the South Island only needs one deep-water port and we think Port Chalmers is the right place for that."

Port Otago is estimated to be able to contribute NZ$177 million (US$136 million) a year to the region and if the proposal goes ahead, growth is predicted to hit more than NZ$200 million a year, the report said.