New wharf has port shipshape for future
Facility tipped to unlock congestion issues of the past
These sorts of infrastructure assets are difficult to get planned, funded, developed and
built, and they are around for a
long time. Napier Port CEO Todd Dawson
Napier Port has officially opened its new state-of-the-art wharf — six months ahead of time and at the low end of budget.
The Nzx-listed port put on a fireworks display on Thursday to celebrate the opening of the 350-metrelong wharf to thank the Hawke’s Bay community for its support during its planning and construction.
Chief executive Todd Dawson said 6 Wharf was a significant milestone for the port and for the Hawke’s Bay region.
Planning for the project started over seven years ago.
An initial public offer and NZX listing took place in August 2019 and construction on the wharf started in February 2020.
The new wharf will unlock capacity and operational performance across all of Napier Port’s wharfs, and allows berthing of larger vessels, including 320-metre-long container ships and Oasis-class cruise liners.
“It’s been a long and arduous journey to get to this point — many years of buildup and preparation prior to even a spade going into the ground,” Dawson told the Herald.
“These sorts of infrastructure assets are difficult to get planned, funded, developed and built, and they are around for a long time.
“It unlocks the congestion issue that the port has had in the past,” he said.
“It’s not all about big ships — it’s about more and more vessels and more and more cargo coming through the port, and of varying types — logs, containers, fuel and other bulk commodities, as well as the likes of cruise ships.
“It allows us to handle all those trades far more easily than in the past, and taking away the congestion issue,” he said.
Napier Port has in the past had to leave vessels at anchor while it managed what was inside the port.
Dawson said the new facility would allow the company to accommodate future growth in Hawke’s Bay
and the central North Island.
“It’s absolutely a game-changer for us in terms of our ability to handle that future growth.”
The new wharf was originally budgeted to cost $173m to $190m, later narrowing to $173m to $179m.
Dawson said the project was likely to come in near the bottom of the revised range.
Construction of 6 Wharf was a major motivation for the 2019 IPO and Dawson said the company’s financials were tracking in line with forecasts issued in the product disclosure statement for the share offer.
The company’s latest earnings guidance is for $38m to $42m ebitda for year to September 31.
Now that Covid restrictions have been lifted, the port is expecting the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship on October 24.
Dawson said a record 87 cruise ships are booked to call in for the season, which runs from October through to April.
Dawson said the port had gone the extra distance to win local community and iwi support for the project.
“It’s vital when you are a port right in the middle of your city — you have to make sure that your community go along with you on the journey.”
Employees, local residents and iwi were given priority in the IPO process.
Napier Port is the North Island’s third biggest container terminal and the fourth largest in New Zealand by container volume.