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CentrePort hopes to be deepening Wellington Harbour within ۱۲ months
TIN news: CentrePort is ramping up its plans to deepen parts of the Wellington Harbour amid signs bigger shipping vessels could arrive in New Zealand soon.
While the port company, jointly owned by the Wellington and Horizons regional councils, has been steadily advancing plans to allow the larger vessels to dredge two parts of the harbour, the plans have been given urgency amid a slowdown of international shipping.
On Tuesday CentrePort revealed a 3 per cent increase in revenues for the six months to December 31 to $35.5 million, and chairman Warren Larsen said he expected similar steady growth for the full year.
However Larsen said the outlook for the types of ships which could be coming to the port was changing.
“If you look at the charter rates for mid-sized vessels compared to large ones, it’s possible the large ones, given the economies of scale they deliver, could arrive in New Zealand earlier than originally envisaged,” he said.
“They’re more available and they’re more likely to be here earlier than anticipated.”
While much of the growth in CentrePort’s volumes has come from goods being sent to China, ironically, a slowdown there is behind the prospect of larger vessels coming to New Zealand.
The Chinese slowdown has hit shipping companies, forcing them to drop the rate at which ships can be chartered.
Six months ago CentrePort believed it may have two-three years to prepare for larger vessels but conditions could bring the timeframe forward substantially, Larsen said.
The company was progressing the technical aspects of its resource consent application, and was giving the project added priority. Larsen said he hoped to have the consent process well advanced by mid-2016 and for physical work to be underway within a year.
“We are pushing ahead with that quite quickly because…they [larger vessels] might come earlier,” he said.
“It’s a relatively small exercise in terms of volume of material compared to other ports [because] Wellington is naturally a deep harbour, but there are a couple of parts that we have to deal with.
“We want to be in a position to be an all tides port. That, from a customer point of view, is important.”
CentrePort’s net profit after tax climbed almost 50 per cent to $4.6m with the same time a year ago impacted by changes in the values of its hedging contracts.
The company will pay a dividend of $2.6m for the period.
In recent months the company secured a new shipping service connecting New Zealand directly to the Americas and Europe, as well as developing a regional rail hub in Wairarapa.
Earlier this month the company confirmed it was selling excess land at Shelley Bay. Larsen declined to comment on progress on the sale.
While the port company, jointly owned by the Wellington and Horizons regional councils, has been steadily advancing plans to allow the larger vessels to dredge two parts of the harbour, the plans have been given urgency amid a slowdown of international shipping.
On Tuesday CentrePort revealed a 3 per cent increase in revenues for the six months to December 31 to $35.5 million, and chairman Warren Larsen said he expected similar steady growth for the full year.
However Larsen said the outlook for the types of ships which could be coming to the port was changing.
“If you look at the charter rates for mid-sized vessels compared to large ones, it’s possible the large ones, given the economies of scale they deliver, could arrive in New Zealand earlier than originally envisaged,” he said.
“They’re more available and they’re more likely to be here earlier than anticipated.”
While much of the growth in CentrePort’s volumes has come from goods being sent to China, ironically, a slowdown there is behind the prospect of larger vessels coming to New Zealand.
The Chinese slowdown has hit shipping companies, forcing them to drop the rate at which ships can be chartered.
Six months ago CentrePort believed it may have two-three years to prepare for larger vessels but conditions could bring the timeframe forward substantially, Larsen said.
The company was progressing the technical aspects of its resource consent application, and was giving the project added priority. Larsen said he hoped to have the consent process well advanced by mid-2016 and for physical work to be underway within a year.
“We are pushing ahead with that quite quickly because…they [larger vessels] might come earlier,” he said.
“It’s a relatively small exercise in terms of volume of material compared to other ports [because] Wellington is naturally a deep harbour, but there are a couple of parts that we have to deal with.
“We want to be in a position to be an all tides port. That, from a customer point of view, is important.”
CentrePort’s net profit after tax climbed almost 50 per cent to $4.6m with the same time a year ago impacted by changes in the values of its hedging contracts.
The company will pay a dividend of $2.6m for the period.
In recent months the company secured a new shipping service connecting New Zealand directly to the Americas and Europe, as well as developing a regional rail hub in Wairarapa.
Earlier this month the company confirmed it was selling excess land at Shelley Bay. Larsen declined to comment on progress on the sale.