Repairs to road and rail links connecting Northland with Auckland scheduled for this year mean that we expect container traffic at Northport to reach, and exceed, previous levels. So we were pleased in December to receive two new Konecranes Liftace reach stackers – equipment that enables our vision of expanding the number of containers we can handle. They make it possible for us to stack and dispatch containers more efficiently.

The two new machines have doubled our reach stacker fleet and enabled us to retire one of our top-lifters, which we bought second-hand when we first started handling containers back in 2008.  

This enhanced container-handling capability will be important. Not only to help handle Auckland container traffic, but also to manage increasing container volumes from within Northland itself.

Last year shipping lines MSC and CMA  extended their container services from Northport, linking Northland with Australia and Asia, and with the US East Coast and Europe via the Panama Canal. Both services are used extensively for kiwifruit and by other Northland exporters who benefit from the direct links and refrigerated container space.

In addition, immediately after Storm Gabrielle last year when Northland was effectively cut off from the rest of the country, some local businesses used Northport for the first time to continue accessing domestic and international markets by sea instead of by road and rail. We look forward to developing these relationships.