Covid-19 has thrown a spanner in the works for the import industry, resulting in a backlog of Christmas cargo stuck in transit at New Zealand's ports.
By Brooke Jenner
But one port has gone out of its way to make sure more gifts make it under trees in time for Christmas Day.
Northport is an otherwise ordinary port, but it has stepped up to undertake an extraordinary task.
At 261 metres, container ship Constantinos P is bigger than any ship that has berthed at Northport before.
Stacked with more than 1340 containers — a large number filled with Christmas cargo — Constantinos P was originally due to dock in Auckland.
But congestion at the port meant the ship would not have been unloaded before the Christmas deadline.
Northport representatives said: “This is not the way we would have chosen to introduce large-scale container handling operations at Northport. We are not yet fully equipped to manage container ships of this size on a regular basis and we have had a very short planning window.”
But Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai said “we’re doing our little part to save Christmas for New Zealand".
“It’s brilliant for the local economy and we’ve got staff members from Northport who chose not to take their holidays because they want to be here with this container ship… knowing they too are playing a part in getting these goods and services to other parts of New Zealand.
“We’re really, really pleased Northport has been able to pick up the slack,” she said. “It’s like the little port that could.”
A Northport spokesperson said it was being asked by other shipping lines if it would be able to help with similar shipments after it took a ship call for Constantinos P.
“It’s not just Christmas things that are on here,” Mayor Mai said.
The imports being discharged in Northport are not only Christmas goods for the Auckland market but the long awaited replenishment of commercial and industrial products, a Northport representative said.
A Ports of Auckland spokesperson said there had been a 23 percent drop in container volumes and forecasts for trade and economic activity were very pessimistic.
“As it turned out, those forecasts were wrong,” they said.
For container ships, Ports of Auckland representatives said it was currently experiencing an average eight-day delay.
“We don’t have enough trained staff to handle the extra demand that is around at the moment as a result of the Covid-19 disruptions,” a spokesperson said.
Operations began shortly after the ship came into port at midday on Sunday. With several more days of unloading ahead of them, crews were pulling mammoth shifts to get the feat across the line.
SHARE ME