Eleven Days Past - Review Of LPC's Status

Friday 04 March 2011 1600 hours
CUSTOMER NOTICE

Eleven Days Past - Review Of LPC's Status

Canterbury’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 12.51pm on Tuesday 22 February 2001 caused further significant damage to Lyttelton Port of Christchurch’s infrastructure and facilities.

Despite the damage sustained to the port, LPC was able to resume operation of core services 96 hours after the earthquake, following an extensive assessment from engineers.

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.

The continued operation of the port required a significant amount of hard work from the entire LPC staff, many of whom have been working under extreme stress.

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.

LPC would like to acknowledge the incredible effort our team has put in this week to ensure our customer’s needs are met and to ensure vital supplies have continued to reach Christchurch.

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

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.

OVERVIEW OF THE LAST 11 DAYS

People

By Friday of last week, we were able to account for all of our people and knew that no-one had sustained a loss of a significant family member. To date we know that 41 of our people have homes that cannot be lived in and that many of our families are suffering from the trauma of the earthquake.

Operations

We moved essential goods and supplies 96 hours after the quake. This took a huge effort by our staff and contractors but we did it!

Oil Berth

The Oil berth held up well and was operational by Sunday, 27 February. At 0800 Turoa berthed and following her visit we had three further ships berth and discharge fuel and LPG.

Containers

The initial assessment of the wharves was that they held up well with the best estimate for limited operations within 3-4 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.

City Depot

Receival and delivery operations recommenced at the CityDepot on Monday of this week. A steady flow of receival and delivery has been the pattern over the week and roads have become operational again.

General Cargo

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

No 2 has been cleared for the first log ship Louise Bulker which is due to arrive Saturday morning.

The next car vessel will discharge vehicles and machinery across No. 7 berth on Sunday.

Dry Dock

The New Plymouth Tug The Kupe was in the dry dock at the time of the earthquake; it remained in the dry dock and was not damaged. The dock remained water tight and work is continuing on the tug to ready it for exit when completed. Structural checks are required to assess the Dry Dock's ongoing operations going forward.

Other

The cruise ship Europa was alongside when the earthquake struck. Incredibly, she was able to depart that evening with all passengers and crew accounted for. Operationally this will be the last cruise vessel we would see for the season.

We hope you and your families are safe and your businesses and homes have fared well.
Our thoughts are with the all the families of Canterbury during this difficult time.

Kind regards

PETER DAVIE
Chief Executive

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