January 2003 Vol. 23 No. 1 Published by South Port NZ Ltd

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1 January 2003 Vol. 23 No. 1 Published by South Port NZ Ltd

SOUTH PORT S PEOPLE - celebrating 125 years as the port authority PART 2 As successors to the original Bluff Harbour Board South Port New Zealand Limited celebrated 125 years of progress with a

Also numbered among the 140 or so guests were representatives of South Port s major shareholder, Environment Southland.

To Southland Harbour Board Plant Supervisor Bill Barnsdale, the oldest former staff member present, fell the honour of cutting the elaborately decorated cake on which the South Port crest was worked

2 SOUTH PORT S PEOPLE - celebrating 125 years as the port authority PART 2 As successors to the original Bluff Harbour Board South Port New Zealand Limited celebrated 125 years of progress with a function for past and present staff, Board members, Directors, port customers and major contractors. Also numbered among the 140 or so guests were representatives of South Port s major shareholder, Environment Southland. MC for the function was Southland - Spirit of a Nation brand manager Gerry Forde. To Southland Harbour Board Plant Supervisor Bill Barnsdale, the oldest former staff member present, fell the honour of cutting the elaborately decorated cake on which the South Port crest was worked in icing. Having been a Harbour Board, rather than Port Company, employee Bill had no hesitation in cutting himself a goodly portion of the Company cake. South Port CEO Mark O Connor enlightens the assembled throng regarding the Port s progress. PART 1 On 18 January 1877, in the Invercargill Magistrates Court, the first meeting of the Bluff Harbour Board took place. By then fifty-four years had passed since the first export cargo of flax had departed the port, fifty-three since the first European settler stepped ashore and the whaling station at Stirling Point had been founded, flourished and failed. The new Bluff Harbour Board faced many challenges over the years, not the least of them being their rivalry with the port on the New River at Invercargill. That port is history now and Bluff prevailed. Reflecting its position as the province s major port the port authority became the Southland Harbour Board in South Port N.Z. Limited became the port operators in Above: Watched by Mark O Connor, Bill Barnsdale is about to destroy a cake decorator s craftsmanship as he prepared to cut into the celebratory cake. Front Cover: The sail training barquentine Spirit of New Zealand makes a fine sight as she sails into Bluff Harbour. 2 To acknowledge the commissioning of the Ballance Agri-Nutrients, sulphuric acid tank in Bluff, South Port Chairman John Harrington presents Ballance Chief Executive Larry Bilodeau with a painting featuring the installation. The Bluff Portsider is compiled by South Port N.Z. Ltd P.O. Box 1, Bluff. TFN (03) Fax (03) reception@southport.co.nz Website Mr M. O Connor, Chief Executive Edited by Capt. D. A. Edge Production by Craigs@Atlas

DOUBLE VISION Tasman Orient Line operates three distinct routes out of New Zealand to North Asia, East Asia and South East Asia.

A recent exception occurred when a combination of export cargo available in Bluff and scheduling requirements allowed the East Asia service vessel Tasman Trader to load in Bluff.

Right: Tasman Discoverer joins Tasman Trader in Bluff. Newly arrived the UBC Sydney prepared to commence loading for North America.

3 DOUBLE VISION Tasman Orient Line operates three distinct routes out of New Zealand to North Asia, East Asia and South East Asia. All these destinations are available to exporters through Bluff but normally it is only the North Asia ships that actually call here. A recent exception occurred when a combination of export cargo available in Bluff and scheduling requirements allowed the East Asia service vessel Tasman Trader to load in Bluff. Keeping Tasman Orient s local agents on their toes for the duration of her stay in Bluff was the arrival of the regular North Asia vessel Tasman Discoverer. Right: Tasman Discoverer joins Tasman Trader in Bluff. Newly arrived the UBC Sydney prepared to commence loading for North America. AMERICAN GO-GO In June 2000 the Swiftnes departed from Bluff on the inaugural sailing of the New Zealand Lumber Shippers service to North America. Two years on the service is going from strength to strength with almost every sailing establishing new loading records. Recent sailings have seen liftings out of Bluff of 16,000 cubic metres making Bluff almost a one-stop-shop for the service. Cargo is mostly forest products, as would be expected given its provenance, including fibre board, sawn timber and veneer, but general cargo is also loaded. Regularly shipped out of Bluff are decorative pebbles to line the swimming pools of the wealthy. AUSTRALIAN TRADER The cover of the previous Bluff Portsider bore a photograph of the Wellington Express making the last Tasman Express Line sailing from Bluff. By then Tasman Express Line had become part of the giant P&O-Nedlloyd Group and now would seem to have been consigned to history as replacing the Wellington Express and her sister on the trans-tasman service is the P&O-Nedlloyd Nelson. She joins her near sister MSC New Plymouth, which is already a familiar sight in Bluff, on the Southern Kiwi Express Service. Under normal scheduling the P&O-Nedlloyd Nelson will not call here but made an early call while the Express ships were being phased out. Newly introduced to trans-tasman service the P&O-Nedlloyd Nelson made an early visit to Bluff. 3

4 125 YEARS O Bluff Since its earliest days fishing has been a feature of the port. Constructing the Island Harbour was the sing The cold stores are among the largest in-port facilities in the country. Trade received a fillip when the Tiwa 4

5 Focus on F PROGRESS le most significant event in the port s history. Forest products have become a major export. Fertiliser for southern farms is imported through Bluff. i Point Aluminium Smelter opened. 5

TRAVELLING ON For those of us who remember the day the TNT Alltrans arrived at Tiwai Point Smelter wharf for the first time it comes as something of a shock to realise she is twenty this year.

As a self-discharging bulk carrier she was a quantum leap forward in efficiency at Tiwai Wharf.

ashore in a day and a half. She still can.

6 TRAVELLING ON For those of us who remember the day the TNT Alltrans arrived at Tiwai Point Smelter wharf for the first time it comes as something of a shock to realise she is twenty this year. Built at the Hitachi Zosen shipyard in Innoshima specifically to carry alumina from Gladstone to Bluff the TNT Alltrans entered service in As a self-discharging bulk carrier she was a quantum leap forward in efficiency at Tiwai Wharf. Whereas her predecessor, the conventional bulk carrier Bulknes, took several days, and sometimes up to a week, to discharge about 20,000 tonnes of alumina the TNT AlItrans could put 30,000 tonnes ashore in a day and a half. She still can. With her name shortened to Alltrans and her original distinctive orange hull now painted black she was on voyage number 423 when she last visited her second home at Alltrans, in her recently adopted black hull, at home at Tiwai Wharf. Tiwai. Not all these voyages were to Bluff, however, as she also serves the smelter at Bell Bay, and not all her cargoes were loaded in Gladstone. To add spice to her otherwise routine life she has made occasional voyages to Gove in the Northern Territory and Bunbury in Western Australia. PROVIDING PUZZLES FOR FUTURE MARITIME RESEARCHERS The Clio Horizon arrives at Bluff, never to depart. The name HudsonTrader is about to be expunged for ever. 6 Two bulk carriers that could have future maritime researchers scratching their heads were the Clio Horizon and Hudson Trader. Both arrived in Bluff; both discharged phosphate in Bluff, but neither sailed from Bluff. Adding to the mystery were the bulk carriers, Hawk and View Bulker. Both sailed from Bluff but neither arrived here. The answer is simple enough - both were renamed here. After completion of discharge the Clio Horizon was renamed Hawk and the Hudson Trader became the View Bulker. In fact the Clio Horizon seems to have developed quite an attachment for Bluff as she has now been here under all three names she has borne since she was delivered from her builders yard in She first came here under her original name of Texas Rainbow 11, returned as the Clio Horizon and sailed as the Hawk. We look forward to welcoming her back in some future incarnation. Two years younger the Hudson Trader / View Bulker is not so well travelled and was making her first visit to Bluff.

SOME INTERESTING SMALLER SHIPS IN BLUFF ARAHINA Currently lying at the fishingwharves in Bluff the Arahina has attracted considerable attention and comment.

She was built by Charles Bailey in Auckland and has a triple skin Kauri hull, which may account for her longevity, although she has been modified over the intervening years.

Outwardly she seems little altered since her days in Wellington pilot service as she settles in to life in the more sedate waters of the South.

7 SOME INTERESTING SMALLER SHIPS IN BLUFF ARAHINA Currently lying at the fishingwharves in Bluff the Arahina has attracted considerable attention and comment. Her pristine condition belies her age as she was commissioned in November 1925 as the Wellington pilot launch. She was built by Charles Bailey in Auckland and has a triple skin Kauri hull, which may account for her longevity, although she has been modified over the intervening years. In 1987 the Arahina was sold and settled into a less stressful life as a pleasure boat in Picton. Outwardly she seems little altered since her days in Wellington pilot service as she settles in to life in the more sedate waters of the South. LEANDER For nearly twenty years Southland entrepreneur Mr George Wast has been battling to establish a kina exporting business from Fiordland to Japan. The presence of the Leander in Bluff is a sign that success may be imminent. Formerly the Japanese research vessel Joshu the Leander is intended to be the base from which divers will seek kina in Fiordland. She would then return with her catch to Bluff or, if necessary, land it in Milford Sound, for transport in refrigerated containers to Invercargill. A former oyster processing plant in Invercargill has been purchased and converted to prepare kina for export. We look forward to seeing the Leander bustling about her business assisting another Southland export enterprise. KARAKA Another old-timer that once knew Wellington s waters well is the Karaka. She was actually built there for Wellington Harbour Ferries and takes her name from Karaka Bay on Wellington Harbour, and one of the destinations to which the ferries plied. In fact the Karaka was rarely used as a ferry and spent most of her time on harbour duties, including acting as a tug and pilot boat under contract to the Harbour Board. As such she was one of Arahina s forebears. In 1923 she came south and was converted for oystering. Recently retired from that role she has now been converted for less strenuous duties as the photograph shows. 7

REEDEREI NORD KLAUS E. OLDENDORFF LTD. The Nordweser s funnel colours of grey, blue and white reflect those of the Egon Oldendorff fleet.

This, then, is the history of the other Oldendorff. Klaus Oldendorff was born in 1933 and joined his father s company in 1951.

On the 12th December 1964 he took delivery of the eight year old short sea trader Bockholm, which, with a few licks of paint, was renamed Nordholm.

8 REEDEREI NORD KLAUS E. OLDENDORFF LTD. The Nordweser s funnel colours of grey, blue and white reflect those of the Egon Oldendorff fleet. In the brief history of Egon Oldendorff that appeared on this page of the May 1998 Portsider it was mentioned that Egon s son Klaus had formed his own shipping company. This, then, is the history of the other Oldendorff. Klaus Oldendorff was born in 1933 and joined his father s company in At the tender age of 21 he was appointed head of the superintendent department of Egon Oldendorff but ten years later decided to establish his own ship-owning business in Hamburg. On the 12th December 1964 he took delivery of the eight year old short sea trader Bockholm, which, with a few licks of paint, was renamed Nordholm. A few months later the Nordmark, a vessel of over 5,000 deadweight tons, joined her, and future purchases tended to be in this size range. Klaus gave them all the Nord prefix, which had its origins in his father s company. When Egon Oldendorff first started in shipping the company was known as Nordische Dampfer and a number of ships had been given Nord names so, First of the fleet to visit Bluff ws the Nordwoge in by adopting this naming style for his own ships, Klaus Oldendorff was paying homage to the past. He also adopted similar funnel colours to those appearing on his father s ships. After initially building up his fleet through second-hand purchases Klaus took delivery of his first new-building, the Nordwelle, in She was the first of four sisters to join the fleet, the others being Nordwoge, Nordstrand and Nordkap. These were multi purpose ships of over 7,000 tons deadweight in closed shelter-deck configuration and in container mode had a capacity for 228 TEU s. They were of the Trampco standard design from the Schlichting-Werft yard at Travemunde and the second of the series, Nordwoge, became the first ship managed by Klaus Oldendorff to visit Bluff when she arrived in June Shortly after the Trampco ships were delivered freight markets The largest ship to have visited Bluff, the Nordweser, seen here outward bound. collapsed and in these difficult conditions only the new ships were able to keep trading with the second-hand ships being forced into layup. Thereafter the company has not returned to the second hand market. The depressed freight market kept the fleet to modest proportions through the 1970 s and in 1980 the fleet comprised nine modern ships, all of similar size, with the oldest being the Trampco ships. Conditions in Germany were not seen as favourable for the company to continue and in January 1987 Klaus Oldendorff and his family shifted to Limassol, Cyprus, where the company s head office is now located. Following the change of location the company has experienced a cycle of expansion, both in fleet numbers and in the size of ships operated. Although the multi-purpose ships had proved very successful and kept the company trading through a period when many others had been forced to close down they were disposed of and replaced by self sustaining container ships and a few Panamax class bulk carriers. So successful has the company been that it is now the largest under the Cyprus flag, with thirty-six vessels in the fleet and a further ten on order. In 1998 the company ventured into tankers taking delivery of a series of Aframax class ships which have since been joined by several VLCC s of over 300,000 tonnes. The bulk carrier fleet is a homogenous unit of about ten Panamax ships and the rest of the fleet comprises container ships ranging from under 1000 TEU s up to about 2,300. If the first of the fleet to call here was of modest enough size the latest, the Nordweser, is the biggest ship ever to have entered the port of Bluff.

September 2008 Vol 28 No. 3 Published by South Port NZ Ltd

September 2008 Vol 28 No. 3 Published by South Port NZ Ltd SOUTH PORT S PEOPLE ruslan mitlash, Pilot The newest member of South Port s maritime staff, Ruslan Mitlash, recently passed the examination for