Photo: RNZ / Kymberlee Fernandes
The unexpected success story of the Port of Auckland includes an about-face on safety procedures, with the Maritime Union saying its work model needs to be replicated by ports around the country.
The Port of Auckland has finally steadied the ship after years of turmoil.
For too long, the council-owned port was hit with headlines of death, delays, disputes, and disruption, but now with CEO Roger Gray at the helm, it has staged a remarkable turnaround, with strong financial results and renewed confidence in its future.
Even a former fierce critic is on board, saying his relationship with the port is now "excellent in fact, we are working really well together, long may it continue".
"A terrible price has been paid, of course, but it's been a great learning curve for a lot of us older guys, coming through that period, to where we are now," said Maritime Union New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay.
"It's very, very clear, having worked the two models if you like, which one we prefer."
He is referring to the model headed by Gray, who became CEO in 2022 after the resignation of Tony Gibson.
Until then, the council-owned port had long been dogged by controversy - from costly automation failures and strained industrial relations to mounting safety concerns, including four worker deaths in just a few years.
A report found productivity was prioritised over safety.
Gibson was last year found guilty in relation to the death of one worker, stevedore Pala'amo Kalati, and was this year ordered to pay a $130,000 fine and $60,000 in costs.
Now the port appears to be on more secure footing, with improved productivity, a safer workplace, and stronger engagement with both staff and customers.
The organisation's latest figures show container volumes up, waiting times down, and a lift in overall profitability.
"We went back to basics and started to deliver what our customers, our community, and what our workforce needed to be a great port," Gray told The Detail.
Just last week, the Port, Maritime Union, and the Mayor of Auckland signed a Tripartite Accord, which sets out shared principles for working together on the Port Plan, for the benefit of Auckland.
That plan confirms council ownership, with the port contributing $1.1 billion in profits to the council over the next decade.
And there are agreed commitments for health and safety, and for greater co-operation, collaboration, and transparency.
The mayor describes it as a groundbreaking milestone, Gray told The Detail.
"It allows us to genuinely work together - the owner, the worker, and also the port company, on the future of the waterfront", while Findlay said, "it absolutely has to be the model going forward for a lot of the ports around the country".
He said it keeps the profits "in the hands of our community ... and not running off overseas".
Around the same time the accord was formally signed, work began at the port as part of the "fast-tracked" expansion - a $200 million investment - which includes a new reinforced concrete-piled wharf at the Bledisloe Terminal, an extension of the Fergusson North Berth, and a cruise passenger terminal.
The new multi-cargo wharf will relocate roll-on/roll-off capacity and have capacity for cruise ships more than 300m long, allowing the Princess Wharf berth to be reserved for smaller ships.
The Fergusson extension will enable more cranes to access the full length of the berth.
"It's a fantastic step and we are really excited," said Gray.
"When it's finished, we will be big ship capable - for container ships, for cruise ships, for roll-on/roll-off, which are getting bigger, and we will have future-proofed the port for the next 40 years."
Gray said he expects the Port of Auckland to remain in the city of sails for at least the next 40 years, but after that, a "super port" may need to be created, potentially in the Thames area.
"I think that conversation will be held over the next few years ... but I use a very simple line 'I will be dead before the port leaves Auckland'.
"I'm not that old, and I'm not planning to die young."
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