Ports of Auckland: Barges could be used to move cars

Saturday, 10 August 2019

Ports of Auckland's mega cranes arrive in the harbour (video first published in 2018).

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff wants to change the way imported cars are cleared off wharves to stop the waterfront looking like 'giant parking lots'.

He has asked Ports of Auckland to accelerate investigations into better ways of clearing the cars, including using barges.

Goff said there was potential for cars to be stored and processed elsewhere rather than on 'valuable city centre port land'.

Auckland mayor says Ports of Auckland look like a 'giant parking lot'.

At the moment, most cars are moved out of the port by road, adding to congestion on the motorway and city centre roads, he said.

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Using barging or more flexible trucking operations had the potential to remove 'hundreds' of truck movements from the central city, Goff said.

About 300,000 cars are offloaded at Captain Cook and Bledisloe wharves every year, and cars sit there for an average of three days before they are moved off.

At the moment the yard space devoted to cars is congested for five to six days every month, and that was forecast to perhaps double in the next five to 10 years.

Port chief executive Tony Gibson has agreed to prioritise investigating new options for moving and storing cars.

'We have been looking at barging as an option, so we are pleased to have the mayor's backing to take this investigation to the next stage,' he said.

'We are determined to operate in the best possible way to reduce the impact of the car trade on downtown Auckland.'

Goff said while there would 'inevitably' be challenges in finding a new solution, 'the effort which needs to be put into overcoming these challenges will be more than rewarded if we can find a way to make this work'.