Today has been a very significant day in POAL’s terminal operating history with the arrival of three new super Panamax ship to shore gantry cranes for our new northern container berth at Fergusson Terminal.

These will be commissioned and commencing limited operations on the Northern berth in 6-8 months’ time aligned to the automation project.

The slightly delayed arrival of the vessel berthing with the cranes affected the start of operations to two of the terminal vessels which we will look to recover time over the next 24 hours.

It did mean we were able to convert the resource to the road to help boost truck moves so not all was lost.

At 11.30am this morning our yard utilisation was sitting at 73%. This is the lowest it has been for over seven weeks and is now at a manageable level to reinstate the berth windows effective from Monday October 8 2018.

VBS truck slots have been increased per hour throughout this week and we are continuing to work with the trucking industry and lines to prioritise longstanding import units that have been here a while. We will be back to a degree of normality from next week.

Civil works are continuing which means that space and yard capacity will remain a precious commodity for us throughout the automation and capacity project so we will continue to micro manage the operations moving forward.

Hopefully this is the last update I need to provide for some time to come, but we will continue to send regular updates regarding export receival periods for vessels and any special requirements as timely and proactive as we can.

Thank you once again to all customers who have weathered the storm with us. We are very grateful for the understanding and support from all during this very challenging period.

Operational Update follows:

Vessels:

• Currently alongside: JPO Tucana 054S and Spirit of Shanghai 834N
• Arriving tonight: Seaspan Dalian 229S
• Arriving on Sunday: Kota Lihat LIH691

Please continue to monitor Ports of Auckland website for changes in the vessel schedules.

VBS bookings are being managed by our Gate Ops team, working with the trucking companies to ensure the most effective road exchange operation.

Imports:
As we are continuing to carefully manage VBS bookings to ensure we can get the balance of flows working optimally, we will start to progressively reinstate demurrage free time periods from this week onwards. Please refer to the below chart for your guidance (detailed information will also be available on our website):

Please note that there will be no extra free time for DG containers and we request that reefer containers are also prioritised.

From 15 October import demurrage will apply as per the Ports of Auckland standard terms and conditions. Detailed information about the allowable free time and demurrage rates can be found on our website.

Exports:
We are currently receiving export containers for the following vessel:

• Kota Lihat LIH691
• Melina 806S
• MSC Martina KE840A

Receival for the following vessel will commence from Sunday October 7:

• MSC Aditi KE838A
• Spirit of Canterbury 4035
• AML Emora 1827

We request rail users refrain from sending export containers that are not for the above mentioned vessels. Containers that are booked to load later vessels will not be unloaded from the train and will be returned.

Due to the space restrictions in the yard we will manage receival of Empty export containers directly with the Shipping Lines. The on dock link facility remains open for de-hire of empties with exception of containers operated by Maersk / Hamburg Sud. For further details and alternative arrangements please liaise directly with Maersk line.