Freight moving freely in Auckland but reduction in interisland service a worry

The Auckland flood does not appear to have greatly impacted trucking and logistics infrastructure, but the movement of goods around the country could be impacted if the interisland ferry Kaitaki was out of service for long, transport leaders say.

Rachel Madden, president of the Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation (CBAFF), said the cancellation of international flights from Auckland airport on Saturday would have caused a backlog of air cargo.

But as of Monday morning, CBAFF hadn’t received any reports from members of damage to warehousing and logistics facilities in the area, she said.

A clearer picture might not emerge until Tuesday, after the Auckland anniversary holiday, she cautioned.

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Damage to transport infrastructure included the temporary loss of a section of the East Coast Main Trunk Line following a slip and derailment near Te Puke.

Kiwirail said the line between Te Puke and Te Maunga was currently closed, with no information on when it might reopen, but noted “the major freight corridor” between Tauranga and Hamilton was still operating.

Transport NZ chief executive Nick Leggett said its members were reporting that traffic was flowing relatively freely on Monday but noted it was a public holiday in Auckland.

They were “holding their breath” to see if there would be more impact from further rain expected later this week, he said.

Contractors had done a very good job getting State Highway 1 open, and the main issues were connections between Auckland and Northland, he said,

The latter had been affected by road closures and detours that were not “working that well”, he said.

“Where there’s an ability to shift freight, the industry will find that, and that’s what you’re seeing in Auckland.

“Roading restrictions are an issue but we are pretty happy with the response from contractors getting major routes open.”

Leggett said a problem would build up very quickly if the Kaitaki remained out of service following its power failure and emergency on Saturday.

“The Cook Strait is an extension of State Highway 1 and fresh food and produce will be waiting on either side of the strait that can’t last forever.”

“The industry is keeping a pretty close eye on that and looking for constant information as to when things are likely to be back at capacity again”, but Transport NZ had not yet advised when the Kaitaki might resume service, he said.

Kiwirail executive Walter Rushbrook said Kaitaki would not be going back into service until Kiwirail had assurance that its fault was rectified.

“We are working to achieve this as soon as possible, but the ship will not return to service until Lloyds Register Class Society – an independent third party – has inspected the ship and issued an assurance report to Interislander and Maritime NZ.”

An internal investigation was underway into the cause of the propulsion and power outage on Kaitaki and specialists were on the ship to help determine the root cause of the issue, Rusbrook said.

In addition, Maritime NZ and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission would also conduct their own investigations, he said.

Madden said whenever an interisland ferry was out of a service for “more than a couple of days” it had an impact on the delivery both of parcels and bulk freight.