PERTH: Our ports are being warned they will need to expand in order to keep up with the worldwide trend towards using larger container ships.
A new Westpac report shows the average container ship heading to New Zealand will be more than 50-percent bigger by 2030.
Industrial Economist, David Norman, says there are going to be bigger vessels, and more of them wanting to dock in New Zealand – and that will ultimately save us money.
“You can see cost savings per container of up to 50 percent, as you move through the size classes of vessel, and this is why there’s that pressure to move toward larger vessels.”
He says ports will have to make a pretty big decision now, so they can cope later.
“Probably we’ll have a few larger ports making those investments, and the smaller ports will have to engage in tie-ups with those larger ports through coastal shipping or other arrangements.”
