Port of Tauranga says the extra business it had acquired from its main rival will boost earnings, but Auckland's ongoing industrial dispute isn't good for any New Zealand port.
On Tuesday, Maersk Shipping announced its weekly Southern Star service will call at Tauranga instead of Auckland, largely because of industrial unrest at the port.
The loss will cost Ports of Auckland nearly $20 million in revenue per year and is another blow in its battle for supremacy with Tauranga for the title of the top port.
The extra business is being welcomed by Tauranga, which has lifted its estimates of annual container volume growth from 20% to 25%.
Chief executive Mark Cairns says the extra business will boost Tauranga's earnings too and the port will work hard to ensure Maersk retains Tauranga as a port of call on its Southern Star route when the service is reviewed in the middle of 2012.
In the meantime, he says Tauranga is not trying to attract more ship from Auckland since it has its work cut out with the traffic it already has.
Mr Cairns says he hopes the parties can start talking again and get the Ports of Auckland open for the good of New Zealand's exporters and importers.
He says Auckland's problems are not good for importers at this time of year and New Zealand, as a small island trading nation, needs the "absolute best supply chain" given its distance from its markets.
"We just can't afford this sort of nonsense," he said.
