PORTAL DECEMBER 2011 inside upfront Upfront 2 heading???Welcome to the December issue of PORTAL, waters. The Polarcus Alima was berthed at our customer magazine. port prior to heading out for several surveys Port’s new gantry 3 off Taranaki and Otago, Southland. In this edition, we also say welcome to a Valuable new coal customer 4 new customer to Port Taranaki in the bulk The reshaping of our inner port area Improving the lot of port people dry cargo category. Bathurst Resources continues apace as bulk cargo volumes and places 6 Limited are an Australian Stock Exchange continue to grow. Imported animal feeds listed company with coal mines on the South and fertilisers, along with logs and now Discovery, demoliton and drainage + 8 Island’s West Coast. On the 27th November, coal for export, are all contributing to Shipping news briefs 10 2011 Bathurst coastally trans-shipped the solid growth. fi rst load of high quality coking coal (for Ship nostalgia 11 There are also positive signs for the steel manufacture) from Westport to Port future of petrochemical export volumes Taranaki. We welcome managing director, Another heavy lift for the port 13 over Newton King Tanker Terminal as Hamish Bohannan; marketing manager, recent developments in both onshore and Move of the mega-module 14 Max Brunsdon; South Island operations offshore fi elds produce results. This is a director, Gerry Cooper, and their team to Taranaki terrific for tag 16 very welcome turn around in outlook from Port Taranaki, (you can read more about previous years. Specialist seismic ship 18 Bathurst on pages four and fi ve). Finally, as another year draws to a close, Underwater tools of the trade 20 We also welcomed during November a I pass on my thanks to you all for your very unusual ship with a very unusual Containers everywhere 22 support of our endeavours during 2011. cargo to load. Congratulations to Fitzroy It has been a challenging year for this Engineering for completion of the $35million VTT news brief 24 company, this country and globally, however, Yolla Platform – won in the face of stiff The buzz from the village 25 Taranaki is well placed with resources and competition from Australian and Asian a strong pioneering spirit to help lift the engineering companies. The heavy lift All things bright and nautical 26 standard of living of all New Zealander’s vessel, Jascon 25 was in port at the end further in the years that lay ahead. of November for fi ve days to pick up the WWishingishing youyou a MerryMerry ChristmasChristmas platform and ready it for the journey to From all of us here at Port Taranaki, we wish ffromrom eeveryoneveryone aatt PPortort TTaranakiaranaki the Bass Strait (more about this later in you a Merry Christmas and prosperous 2012. PORTAL). Our third new, and also unusual, caller 2 PORTAL during November was the largest seismic survey vessel ever to work in New Zealand Chief Executive port’s new gantry Early November saw Port Taranaki’s new manner. Productivity of the log unloading trailer gantry commissioned and the lift of its operation has greatly increased, improving fi rst trailer. log truck turn around at the port. Reduced wear and tear on both the log loader heads “The benefi ts of this piece of equipment have and truck and trailer equipment will be an PORTAL been well recognised,” says Graeme Wylie, additional benefi t. C3 operations manager. “With the current and likely growth in the log “The trailer loading operation is now being export trade at Port Taranaki, this is a great carried out in a much safer and more effi cient 3 improvement in the port infrastructure.” ■ valuable new coal customer Port Taranaki has secured a signifi cant environment for port staff. “With 50 million to 100 million tonnes new customer with the arrival of the fi rst “The fi rst stage of this new port project of resource available to Bathurst, to be coastal shipment of premium coking coal, is the erection of two storage sheds to mined at an initial rate of up to one million destined for the steel mills of Asia, from house up to 10,000 tonnes of coal. During tonnes per annum, rising to two million Westport to New Plymouth. phase one, the shipments will be in 5,000 tonnes, the trade may well be around for The general cargo ship, Anatoki, arrived tonne increments, a hatch load for a many years,” says Roy. at Port Taranaki with about 700 tonnes of Handy sized bulker, with one or two Bathurst Resources is listed on the coal aboard on the 27th November. The hatches being used per shipment. The Australian Securities Exchange and the coal was discharged and stored off port, option to go to full ‘Handy sized’ vessels, New Zealand Exchange, has a market while the Anatoki returned to Westport of about 35,000 tonnes, or to Panamax, capitalisation of more than $A500 million, to collect the second shipment of the about 60,000 tonnes, is there for Bathurst and is focused on becoming a producer high quality coking coal. The fi rst export for the future.” of high quality coking and thermal coal, shipment from Port Taranaki to Asia is The coal is being stored undercover to exporting to niche markets such as China likely sometime during the fi rst quarter ensure its moisture content remains and India. of 2012. constant, something required by overseas Port Taranaki chief executive, Roy Weaver, markets. Bathurst coal is high value and says this new business represents another relatively clean (lower sulphur, low ash), signifi cant step in the diversifi cation of ideal for steel making. It is being mined the port’s revenue streams. open-cast, not underground, enhancing “Port Taranaki is very pleased that the attractiveness of the venture. Australian company Bathurst Resources Ten years ago, more than 90 percent of Limited has entered into a leasing the Port Taranaki’s trade was petroleum arrangement for the storage at this products and petrochemicals, which came port of coal destined for Asian steel to the port underground through pipelines manufacturers. and were exported through the Newton “The newly leased land only became King Tanker Terminal. available because of the recent demolition “Now there are several substantial dry of some old workshop buildings at the bulk cargoes being handled through Moturoa Basin and the relocation of the port with the latest, coal, being an affected staff – all part of our on-going important additional product to the dry programme of increasing availability of bulk category. It is also both an import PORTAL port storage and operational land and, (from Westport) and an export trade for View of proposed temporary 4 at the same time, improving the working the port. storage coal sheds. profi le Hamish Bohannan Managing director and chief executive offi cer The vessel, Anatoki, with its first Hamish Bohannan is a mining shipment of coal from Westport. engineer with 30 years experience in the resources industry, starting Its two Buller permits cover over 10,000 “Planned upgrading of the port at Westport as a miner with Goldfi elds in South hectares of the coal fi eld that largely to cater for the Bathurst coal trade is Africa before completing a degree surrounds state-owned Solid Energy’s expected to, over different stages, cost in at the Royal School of Mines. He Stockton open cast mining operation. excess of $20 million, with additional plant, has been actively involved in many machinery and storage facilities. Bathurst’s Escarpment permit is targeting areas of the industry including a production of 1 million tonnes per annum “We are delighted to be working dredging and open cut mining, which will increase to approximately 2 constructively with Westport, Port processing and smelting having million tonnes per annum as further South Taranaki and others in the environmentally worked around the globe in various Buller projects come on line. responsible development of this strategic metals from copper and gold to resource,” adds Hamish. ■ As well as developing the Buller coal nickel and mineral sands. fi eld, Bathurst recently acquired Eastern Resources Group and Brookdale Mining and now has assets that include two operating mines and a development block adjacent to the Buller project. “Buller is Bathurst’s fl agship project and a major export opportunity for New Zealand. It will add signifi cant value to the West PORTAL Coast economy, as well as to Taranaki and the national economy,” says Bathurst Resources Limited managing director, Hamish Bohannan. 5 ainage Plus. Photo courtesy of Dr Photo courtesy of Drainage Plus improving the lot of port people and places Port Taranaki is continuing its extensive “Tired old buildings and facilities shipped from Westport to Port Taranaki upgrading and renovation programme near the end of their life have been for later export to Asia. – improving the working environment demolished, opening up more valuable The engineers and stores people for port staff and clients alike. land for cargoes, improving storage have moved to renovated facilities The latest process – that effectively areas for existing and new clients. And up Breakwater Road, as have the started with the construction of the relatively modern facilities have been mechanics, who are there on a port’s new administration headquarters further upgraded to provide better temporary basis only until new off Bayly Road and the later demolition working environments for staff and workshops have been built for them at of the old administration building others who use these facilities. the Blyde Terminal. – has now progressed to include the “We are reshaping the inner port area, New Plymouth company Drainage Plus demolition of the old works and stores taking out activities that can be housed Contracting, which demolished the buildings and the relocation of about anywhere, not necessarily next to or old administration building, was also 15 more port staff.