Saturday 05 March 2011 1500 hours
CUSTOMER NOTICE

TWELVE DAYS PAST - REVIEW OF LPC'S STATUS

PORT SERVICES CONTINUE ON PATH TO NORMALITY WITH FIRST COAL TRAIN AND FURTHER SHIP ARRIVALS

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch’s core services are continuing on a path to normality with the resumption today of coal deliveries to the port, the arrival of the first log vessel and the scheduling of further container exchanges.

At 0800 hours today the first coal train arrived since Canterbury’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which occurred at 12.51 pm on Tuesday 22 February 2011. Coal stockpiling is resuming in readiness for export.

The first log vessel, the Louise Bulker, arrived at 1330 hours at No 2 wharf.

As further evidence of the move towards normal business, the coastal containership Spirit of Endurance was due to arrive from Auckland at 1600 hours today to complete a container exchange.

Tomorrow will see three more vessels arrive in port – the vehicle carrier Spring Sky, which will discharge vehicles and machinery, the tanker Ye Chi, which will discharge fuel products, and the containership Ocean Bright, which will complete a container exchange.

Departure of the Otago

The HMNZS Otago was due to leave at 1900 hours today. Navy crew have been helping the Lyttelton community with food supplies and with cleaning up the streets after the earthquake. A community send-off for the Navy was held this afternoon at the Sutton Reserve.

We have also greatly appreciated the support of the Navy, who have had a number of divers assisting our engineers in assessing our structures and carrying out sounds to review the channel depth.

Port operations recap

Inner Harbour Jetty 2, 3 and 7 are operational. Vessels unloaded over the past week have included the Antwerp unloading fresh produce, and The Spirit of Resolution unloading essential general supplies.

The Oil berth was operational by Sunday 27 February. At 0800 hours that day the Torea berthed, and following her visit we had three further ships berth and discharge fuel and LPG.

The initial assessment of the wharves was that they held up well with the best estimate for limited operations within three to four days. This proved to be accurate and we welcomed Toyofuji Shipping Transfuture 7 on Saturday, 26 February, with her cargo of emergency vehicles and pallets of fresh water. Pacifica Shipping’s Spirit of Endurance completed a 300 container exchange with medical, food and essential supplies.

Receival and delivery operations recommenced at the CityDepot on Monday of last week (28 February). A steady flow of receival and delivery was the pattern over last week, and roads became operational again.

Rapid response to earthquake damage

Despite significant damage, LPC was able to resume operation of core services just 96 hours after Canterbury’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which occurred at 12.51 pm on Tuesday 22 February 2011.

This sterling effort was thanks to our hardworking staff, contractors and others who have put in long hours to ensure our customers’ needs are met, and to ensure vital supplies have continued to reach Christchurch.

As the gateway to the South Island LPC’s priority has been on keeping the port operational so the essential food, fuel and other supplies needed by Christchurch can get through.

Engineers, electrical and civil maintenance are continuing to assess structural damage on a regular basis. We continue to assess infrastructure, power supply and other services after each aftershock.

We would like to thank all of our customers for their understanding and patience in what has been a stressful and busy time for everyone. Supporting our port supports Christchurch and its rebuild.

Our thoughts remain with the all the families of Canterbury during the continuing difficulties.

Kind regards
PETER DAVIE
Chief Executive

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