CentrePort rebuild chance to modernise

WELLINGTON: CentrePort in Wellington is scouring the globe seeking international experts to help it plan its future after suffering the biggest adverse event in its history when last November’s Kaikoura earthquake damaged many of its buildings beyond repair and brought its operations to a sudden halt.

Most of the port’s operations were back operating quickly in a modified way after the quake and the reinstatement of shiptoshore cranes last month was a key milestone in getting back to more normal operations.

The company earmarked 12 buildings across the port for demolition, some of which had already been tagged as earthquakeprone and others which were badly damaged by the quake. Two buildings in its commercial property portfolio are being demolished, including the Greater Wellington Regional Council office and the fivestorey Statistics House, while its Customhouse building will be reoccupied. Still outstanding is a decision on the BNZ office building, which is three times the size of Statistics House and currently undergoing engineering assessments of the damage before a decision can be made on whether it is economic to repair it.

As the dust settles and CentrePort comes to the end of its initial assessment phase, evaluating which buildings will remain standing, which will be demolished and how to keep its business operating in the medium term, it is starting to turn its attention to the longer term future of the port. It has set aside $63 million to invest in making the port more resilient, strengthening its key wharves to be able to handle Kaikouratype events in the future. It is talking with global port experts and is likely to bring on board consultants over the next few months as it looks to cherrypick the best ideas from around the world to help it reset its longterm plan.

‘‘We try not to talk about rebuild — we talk about regeneration,’’ chief executive Derek Nind said. ‘‘There’s not very much happening at the port the way it was [before the quake] and it probably never will be. If we go to rebuild, we will get what we had, which was 20thcentury assets and 20thcentury thinking — we need 21stcentury assets for the next 50 to 100 years and we need to regenerate the port.

‘‘We need to bring the best people in the world to Wellington to help us with that and to have the best outcome we can. Ports have evolved and now we have got an opportunity to plan and get it right. — BusinessDesk