APRIL 2007 APRIL 2008 AUGUST 2008 DECEMBER 2007 PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL DECEMBER 2012 DECEMBER 2008 APRIL 2009 AUGUST 2009 DECEMBER 2009 PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL PORTALAPRIL 2010 AUGUST 2010 DECEMBERAUGUST 2010 AUGUSTAPRIL 20102011 PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL PORTAL AUGUSTAUGUST 20102011 DECEMBER 2011 APRIL 2012 AUGUST 2012 PORTAL PORTAL inside upfront Upfront 2 Welcome to the December 2012 edition of PORTAL, well as a culture of continuous improvement. Portheading??? Taranaki’s customer publication. The overall MetOcean’s work is also making this port a NKTT to space – do you read me over? 3 theme and focus of much of this issue is health safer place for ships and workers, particularly and safety in the workplace and the environment. Safety culture 4 people working the vessels, either ships’ crews Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) standards or stevedores. The oceanographic work of New Port transport shuttle success 6 are a hot topic for New Zealanders at this time as Plymouth-headquartered MetOcean Solutions in we absorb the report of the Royal Commission into developing high resolution, long range weather Making port taranaki safer 8 the Pike River Mine tragedy. The Commission’s forecasts for Port Taranaki, can forewarn us of Shipping news briefs 10 largely damning findings are an indictment potentially dangerous infragravity wave surges, of the Kiwi “she’ll be right” attitude and our which cause mooring lines to snap. Ship nostalgia 11 “number eight wire” fix-it mentality. The report There is also a piece in this PORTAL on the tells of woeful workplace practices, ill-informed Petroleum Exploration and Production Association Tanker terminal does port proud 12 and insufficiently skilled workers, inadequate of New Zealand (PEPANZ), and the high HSE and HSE standards and supervision and a culture of NZEC busy building and growing 14 environmental standards its members aspire to. production ahead of safety in the pursuit of profits. In relation to the environment, there is an article on Petroleum summit spells out priorities 16 Here at Port Taranaki, we are pleased to have the revamped Department of Conservation Marine been recognised as New Zealand’s safest port for Petroleum plays a pivotal part 18 Information Centre at the port that highlights the third successive year this year. While pleased the unique marine environments encountered with this ranking, we know there is more we can Trucking along environmentally 20 just off our shores. In addition, this edition’s and must do to make the port even safer for staff, Taranaki Transport Network contribution is about Revamped marine centre proving popular 22 contractors and ship’s crew. the development of diesel trucks that are more The buzz from the village 24 One recent initiative that is working well is the environmentally friendly. port’s new transport shuttle service. Its emphasis As this is the last issue of PORTAL for 2012, on VTT news brief 25 is on maintaining high HSE standards for all ship’s behalf of all of us here at Port Taranaki, I want to crew at all times by getting them through port thank you for helping us get through another “Luck of the irish” leads to taranaki 26 operating areas safely. year with a solid contribution to the Taranaki and This PORTAL also has an article on our Newton King New Zealand economies. Now, more than any Tanker Terminal (NKTT), which has consistently over time in the recent past, we need New Zealand’s 40 years, operated to high HSE levels. It recently export pathways operating as efficiently and celebrated the 2000th loading of crude oil and safely as possible. condensate (light oil), marking about 42 million Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a tonnes of petroleum products safely shipped from prosperous 2013. our shores without a single, serious incident or accident. We are every conscious though, that we are only as good as our last ship loading. Attention PORTAL to detail and a focus on process are paramount, as Chief Executive Wishing you a Merry Christmas from everyone at Port Taranaki NKTT to space - do Photo courtesy you read me over? of Mark Dwyer. The control room for the Newton King room – but it was mainly around agreeing America and Arabia as well as New Zealand. Tanker Terminal (NKTT), was recently that I would not shoot any of them for the Each film must be made specifically for transformed into a mock NASA mission film!” says Bruce. Tropfest, and include the Tropfest Signature control room for a short film being “It was really an ideal location that could Item which this year is a “gumboot”. Run shot for the Tropfest New Zealand be transformed to look the part with by the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, the short film competition. relative ease. We picked a morning when 16 finalists in this year’s event will be In September, Taranaki film maker, Bruce there were no oil tankers in the port, screened at a free outdoor cinema event at Gatward-Cook, had been shooting the blacked out the windows, re-dressed New Plymouth’s Bowl of Brooklands next Port’s safety induction video as well as the control room with space related year on January 28. a promotional video for NKTT when he paraphernalia – and rolled camera!” “We have shot this film without any budget discovered the control room and realised The short film will be entered in Tropfest with virtually everyone donating their time. it would be a perfect location for his New Zealand short film competition We are really grateful that the team at NKTT short film. which is the world’s largest short film supported us in this project – we couldn’t Entitled The Forgotten Astronaut – the film competition. While the competition has have shot these pivotal scenes without is about an astronaut sent on a deep space been running in Australia for 20 years, their help and got the look we were after”, mission in the 1970s – and when he returns there are now competitions in North says Bruce. n in 2012 there is no-one at NASA working on that project anymore. In fact, only a space nut in Cape Egmont who has bought up some old NASA computers and got them going can even communicate with him! While the cockpit of a 737-800 flight simulator in Auckland doubled as the spaceship interior, NKTT’s control room was artfully disguised to double as a bank of NASA mission control computers located inside a Cape Egmont observatory, says PORTAL Bruce Gatward-Cook. “The NKTT supervisors took a little bit of persuasion to let me shoot in their control 3 L-R: Mark Dwyer, Keith Finnerty, Orlando Stewart and Bruce Gatward-Cook. Photo courtesay of Chris Jenkins. safety culture “Port Taranaki is constantly striving for commercial wharves. We needed to raise Few people understand these long wave high Health and Safety in Employment the HSE bar considerably and we have, surges, where seemingly insignificant (HSE) standards and trying to operate but there are always opportunities for waves can hold so much energy and be in more environmentally friendly ways,” raising the bar further and in particular, so potentially destructive and a danger says chief executive Roy Weaver. finding the next big step in HSE.” to ships safely anchored in harbours. National safety statistics show Port Two recent initiatives aimed at “This is something which affects mainly Taranaki people have created the safest improving HSE standards at the port west coast ports around the world port in New Zealand for each of the past are the new shuttle service and the but something we knew little about three years. long wave research by oceanographers years ago. This phenomenon is largely “This is a real credit to all involved, MetOcean Solutions. confined to the spring and autumn equinoxes, though it’s often worse in whether port staff, contractors or The shuttle service, which aims to the spring. This port is working with port users and reflects the high HSE ensure all ship’s crew move safely within MetOcean in implementing a vessel standards that have now become part of the port’s operational areas at all times, management programme to improve our this port’s working culture. has been operating very successfully HSE standards. As ships get larger, we since June (refer to article on pages 6-7). “It was only a decade ago that ports need to pay more attention to weather were very open to the public and I can MetOcean’s latest work is focused on patterns and forecasts, particularly the remember seeing people on mobility understanding and predicting powerful incidence of infragravity waves. scooters travelling around parts of infragravity wave surges that can lead to the port operations area, and people, damage to port infrastructure, vessels “We are in awe of the ground breaking, often parents and kids, fishing off the and injury or death. scientific work being done by Page four photos courtesy of Wayne Robertson. PORTAL 4 people badly hurt enough to be off The oil and gas sector work for a week, and 370 hospitalised is the safest industry and diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. The taskforce believes that in this country. is a shameful record and is working towards producing a policy package, It was no surprise to see the government aimed at cutting that toll by 25 percent appoint a key Taranaki energy industry by 2020, for the government to executive, Rob Jager, as chairman of the implement. Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety. Rob Jager, who is chairman of Shell New Zealand, is also general manager Though the taskforce has yet to give of New Plymouth headquartered Shell its final report to the government, it Todd Oil Services which operates the has already found New Zealand to be offshore Maui and onshore Kapuni roughly twice as dangerous a place to gas fields.