MMH - Marsden Maritime Holdings

[Balance]

Bal, Once the MMH dreamers realise the N Z F cr@p is fact the s p will drop to sub $5.50 where it was before the ramping started , get out now before that happenes, the W B report was complete B S in my opinion, if I was paid enough I could write a report that said the sky is NOT blue !!!

I think you have not read the reports but that’s understandable as they are rather voluminous!

Just like the POA’s board and management who clearly have not read the reports either.

Don’t you think that it is tragic that we have $6 billion worth of prime waterfront valuable land managed by a bunch of fat cats whose vision is a multi-storey car park!

Imagine giving these incompetent clowns another 10 years to screw up Auckland’s prime waterfront irreversibly - so they can stay in their fat cat jobs.

[whatsup]

i think you have not read the reports but that’s understandable as they are rather voluminous!

Just like the poa’s board and management who clearly have not read the reports either.

Don’t you think that it is tragic that we have $6 billion worth of prime waterfront valuable land managed by a bunch of fat cats whose vision is a multi-storey car park!

Imagine giving these incompetent clowns another 10 years to screw up auckland’s prime waterfront irreversibly - so they can stay in their fat cat jobs.

twt !! Twt twt twt twt twt !!!

[Blue Skies]

Much as i'ld be v keen to see the Port moved from it's present location, Whangarei just doesn't seem logistically feasible.
I don't know too much about this subject but here's a few things which immediately come to mind.
Ports of AKL moved 973,722 TEU 20'/6 meter containers last year, that's 2,667 per day every day of the year. If you put those figures together, the containers end to end (say on a train) would stretch 16 kilometres. If half were imports heading to Auckland and half exports heading to Whangarei thats still 8 kilometres of containers end to end every way day of the year.
The whole rail line is not fit for purpose & the rail tunnels too small for container traffic & imagine how many locomotives would be needed to haul 8 kms of containers every day down to Auckland & back up (and the carbon footprint & the increased freight costs ).
Does anyone think putting any more container trucks on SH1, Whangarei to Auckland which is already clogged to breaking point is a good idea? And what about the windy twisty sections over Bryderwyns!
Further more, I heard there are a number of days per year when ships are unable to berth at Whangarei due to the N.E swell. Imagine the compounding problems of 3 or 4 days of ships doubling up waiting to be unloaded. Being an inner harbour port, Auckland doesn't ever have this problem.
Interested to know what others think and other options for moving the port.

[Marilyn Munroe]

I agree with Blue Skies, shifting ports in one single big bang is a bad idea.

A long term trend is the slow but steady rise in the volume of container traffic. How many more land container movements can the Auckland isthmus handle before it locks up or the terminal reaches all the way across the harbor to Devonport.

I am not a local but I am sure there are some container movements that come from within Northland that would use a container terminal at Marsden if they could and avoid costs and delays caused by congestion on the isthmus. Maybe even containers to and from the North Shore would find Marsden easier.

What I am advocating is a smaller plan which captures Northland traffic and eases pressure on the isthmus. If it becomes necessary to shift container traffic from Auckland in the future it would provide a base for expansion.

Upgrading the Northland rail line will take time and money to bring it up to the standard required for container traffic. The spur line to the port is an excellent low cost first move. This line is already designated and would gain inter Northland container traffic and log traffic. Ask a Northland motorist if something that could be done should be done to reduce log traffic on the roads most would say "heck yeah".

Any vessel sailing from Auckland or Tauranga heading for Australia, the Straits of Malacca or North Asia sails right past Marsden so the time penalty in calling at Marsden is small. The swell problem is easily fixed, just like MEARSEK did at their Salah terminal in Oman where the Monsoon swell was knocking the boats around. They installed a MoorMaster mooring system. Bonus, it is a Kiwi product.

Boop boop de do
Marilyn

[whatsup]

If the POA is to move the land which was purchased by the old Auckland Harbour Board at Te Atatu in the late 1940"s/50's for that purpose is the best place, its beside the Nthern motheway and not too far from a rail head at Henderson , 3 Kms at most, not too far from the newly chosen northern hub and with the Waterview Tunnel it opens the way into Sth Auckland destinations, no brainer as the money from PoA stays within the Auckland Council rate payers powers and then when completed the current container land can be used to its best use.

Only problem is that that area of the harbour will need constant dredging which will not be an issue with modern dredging techniques.

Its a win win win for all parties except the northern mafia !@

[mondograss]

I think the 43m clearance of the harbour bridge might prove to be a small impediment whatsup. I dare say modern container ships are a bit taller.

Blue Skies, don’t forget that not all traffic will end up at Northport, at least some will decide to switch to Tauranga. Even so 4x trains up and 4x trains down per day, 2km long each. Seems doable to me.

[Blue Skies]

In my earlier post I just referred to container traffic to keep things simple, i.e. handling ave 2667 containers per day, = approx 16 kms laid end to end.
However, also have to add moving the 500,000 tons of cement per year & the 300,000 imported cars.

Now that's before we even start looking at the ave yearly growth. POA are already getting ready for giant freighters which can carry 11,000 containers.
Most of this freight is destined for the greater Auckland area.

Could we even build the rail capacity in the next 10 years to deal with this?
How would the enormous cost be funded & at the expense of what other projects/services both in terms of cost & also human resources ? e.g. diverting construction away from housing?
Would the increased carbon footprint of moving all this freight by rail back to Auckland be acceptable to any future govt?
Would the vulnerability of the complete dependence on the rail line to breakdown etc be an acceptable commercial risk to the economy?

I certainly don't want to sound like an advocate for keeping POA where it is but Whangarei just doesn't seem realistic to me.
Te Atatu sounds interesting but personally not keen on big ships in the inner harbour ( high risk of accidents in such confined space, bumping the bridge pylons would be catastrophic for Auckland traffic, collision with other boats or running aground, destruction of marine ecology, like it kept for recreational boating).
A bit further south seems the answer to me, Firth of Thames ?

[Balance]

I think the 43m clearance of the harbour bridge might prove to be a small impediment whatsup. I dare say modern container ships are a bit taller.

Blue Skies, don’t forget that not all traffic will end up at Northport, at least some will decide to switch to Tauranga. Even so 4x trains up and 4x trains down per day, 2km long each. Seems doable to me.

For those genuinely interested in understanding the options facing Ports of Auckland, here's the report prepared back in 2016 by EY to discuss and assess the options:

http://www.portfuturestudy.co.nz/doc...port072016.pdf

The arrogance of the directors and management was such that they wanted to go ahead with pre-approved and non-notifiable plans to reclaim more land into the harbor to stretch out the need to shift the port by more years!

Well, history records that POA was forced to back down in 2017 after a huge uproar and court case.

[Balance]

Well, history records that POA was forced to back down in 2017 after a huge uproar and court case.

And their solution to being unable to do more reclamation is - get this - a multi-story carpark!



https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12269974

Oh well, there's going to be more of this visionary type developments for those of you who support what POA is about.

As an Aucklander, I refuse to be treated as a fool by POA.

[Blue Skies]

And their solution to being unable to do more reclamation is - get this - a multi-story carpark!



https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12269974

Oh well, there's going to be more of this visionary type developments for those of you who support what POA is about.

As an Aucklander, I refuse to be treated as a fool by POA.

Hey Balance I'm with you on this one. We were shocked when we found out their plans & expressed strong opposition to the the expansion of the port into the harbour esp letting friends & neighbours know who didn't know because unbelievably it was non-notifiable.
It's def in the wrong place & needs to be moved, just not sure about feasibility of Whangarei.