Port reorganisation to take effect Monday

 
MEDIA RELEASE
02 July 2009 - for immediate release
 
 
Port reorganisation to take effect Monday
 
In the biggest operational changes seen at Ports of Auckland in a decade, from Monday 6 July container operations will be based at the port’s recently expanded Fergusson container terminal.
 
The majority of visiting container ships will be berthed at Fergusson and all the port’s stevedoring staff will be based there.
 
At present container ship schedules and stevedoring staff are split between the Fergusson and Bledisloe container terminals, which are run semi-independently. 
 
General Manager Operations Grant Jorey says the change to a single workforce based at Fergusson will help the company be more efficient.
 
“We’ll have significantly more flexibility and be better placed to resource peak periods,” Mr Jorey said.
 
“The changes are about getting the best out of our land, equipment, berths and labour.”
 
Thanks to a combination of voluntary redundancies and internal redeployment, there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the changes.  There will be an overall reduction in staff numbers of 33.
 
Mr Jorey said he was very pleased at the outcome.  “Obviously, we’re delighted.”
 
Chief Financial Officer Wayne Thompson said the terminal reorganisation, in combination with Ports of Auckland’s newly settled Collective Employment Agreement and recent sale of Queens Wharf, created a positive growth platform for the company.
 
“We are poised to emerge from the recession stronger, leaner and significantly more efficient,” Mr Thompson said
 
“These changes will result in significant cost savings through the elimination of duplicated overheads and infrastructure.”
 
Mr Thompson said Bledisloe would continue to be used intensively for port operations, including containers, non-containerised cargo and Customs activities.
 
“We will be transferring the cargo currently handled on Queens Wharf to Bledisloe, Captain Cook and Marsden wharves, and some container ships will continue to be serviced at Bledisloe.”
 
Mr Thompson said the construction of a rail exchange at the Wiri Inland Port would increase capacity at the seaport. The rail exchange is expected to be operational by the end of 2009.
 
Mr Jorey said Ports of Auckland was expanding and reconfiguring its Fergusson truck processing infrastructure to cater for the additional traffic that would be handled there.
 
The proportion of container terminal cargo handled at Fergusson will rise from the current 71% to around 96%.
 
ENDS
 

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