August 2010 (pdf) - Port Nelson

August 2010
rePORT
International........... 2
• Parke goes global
Port News.............. 3
• Long tow
SupPORT our Region. .. 4
Port Progress. ......... 5
• Wind monitors
Around the Port .. . . . . 6/7
• The apples are off
• Loaded with Logs
Our Port Our People.. . . 8
• On the big screen
Safe Harbour........... 9
• Safe Water
Meet the Client.. . . . . . . 10
• Nelson Forests
Environment Update. ..11
• Could it happen here?
Looking Back. . . . . . . . . 12
• Port Nelson Haven Ahoy!
Photo: Troy Dando
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Twenty - Four Seven
The work of the port goes on night and day, winter and summer. The tail end of the fruit season ensures
the wharves are busy right through to the shortest day, and there is plenty of other cargo to keep up the
momentum year round. Port workers wrap up to keep warm as they turn out for winter night shifts that
keep the region’s exports moving and maintain the port’s lifeblood in a rhythm that is truly 24-7.
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Nature’s surfers
If seals were able to study history they’d realise the life they lead now is a cruisey one, compared with the
early 1800s, when they were hunted almost to extinction, with their fur valued for coats and rugs. Now
that we wear polar-fleece and have developed more empathy for marine mammals, the southern fur seal
has made a comeback around our coastline. Numbers are higher in winter when they sun themselves, in
this case at the Cut, feasting on seafood ready for the coming ‘maternity’ season.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 2
international
Parke goes global
At TOC Europe in June, the president of the Port Authority of Valencia, Rafael Aznar (centre), signed an agreement with representatives of (from left) Nam Ports of
Namibia, Tees Port of the UK, the National Port Authority of Peru and Port Nelson of New Zealand. With this agreement, these ports joined the Port Cluster Governance
Committee to work on the production of the Port Cluster Best Practice Guide. Parke Pittar is on the far right.
New Zealand was often said to be ‘punching
above its weight’ when competing in the
America’s Cup, so it was fitting that in the
cup’s Spanish HQ, Valencia, the same thing
was said of the New Zealand port sector.
And it’s largely thanks to our own Chief
Commercial Officer Parke Pittar.
Last year Parke attended the Terminal Operators
Conference (TOC) in Bremen, Germany, and
attended a talk about the corporatisation of
ports. When the speaker used an inaccurate
illustration involving New Zealand ports, Parke
says he ‘politely corrected him’. The CEO of the
Global Institute of Logistics (GIL) was there,
and the upshot was, alongside this year’s TOC
Europe in Valencia, Port Nelson was invited
to join a port bench-marking think tank, the
Port Cluster Governance Committee, and to
contribute to a guide to best port practices.
Whilst Los Angeles is contributing the chapter
on environment, and Hamburg is writing the
section on marketing, Parke will be responsible
for governance, as modelled in New Zealand
since the port reform of 1989, with particular
reference to Port Nelson.
“The New Zealand port model is not widely
understood, but when it is explained people
“The aim of the
exercise is to share
best practice, to raise
quality levels and
standards and to
provide an exemplar
template for world
ports in general to
use as they wish”.
Parke Pittar presents on the New Zealand
port governance model at the TOC Europe
conference in Valencia.
are very impressed,” Parke says. “New Zealand
is different in that we have successfully
developed a formula where public ownership
is combined with commercial behaviour and
accountability. Many other countries have
port authorities that don’t make money,
and they see the only option as selling up to
private enterprise, often at a price that doesn’t
recognise the potential economic value of
the port.”
Parke says it is a tremendous feather in
the cap for Port Nelson Ltd to be ranked
alongside heavyweight ports like Singapore
in the Port Cluster Best Practice Guide,
and a testament to the ‘exemplary way’
PNL has used the model provided by Port
Reform. The guide will be prepared over
the next 12 months and will be a ‘living
document’ that will be extremely useful to
developing ports. Each chapter will have
the academic theory on the topic, a case
study and practical information for other
ports to follow.
“Port Nelson provides a case study of how
a port authority can negotiate a way of
operating commercially, without facing a
fire sale to private ownership,” Parke says.
Port Nelson Limited • 10 Low Street, Port Nelson • PO Box 844, Nelson, New Zealand
Tel +64 3 548 2099 • Fax +64 3 546 9015 • www.portnelson.co.nz
RePort Nelson is a triennial publication produced for Port Nelson Limited by:
• Nelson Media Agency - www.nelsonmedia.co.nz • SeeReed Visual Communication - www.seereed.co.nz
Photography: Thanks to Troy Dando for his photos in this issue.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 3
Vice Regal Visit
The Governor General of New Zealand, His Excellency, The Hon Sir
Anand Satyanand was in Nelson in May with his wife Lady Susan,
meeting people and getting to know the region better with visits
that included Cawthron, Nutrizeal, Waimea College, Nelson Pine
Industries, NIWA and Port Nelson Ltd.
Chief Commercial Officer Parke Pittar says Sir Anand was approachable
and well informed. “We had a good discussion around the cargo
operation, cargo bases and topical issues such as coastal shipping
and whether New Zealand would benefit from having its own
shipping line.”
port news
The anchor handling tug and supply vessel Marsol Pride was in
port, and the Governor General’s port tour focused on oil and gas
initiatives and the Green Port - Black Boat concept for industrial boat
building at Port Nelson.
Tuna Skiff
The purse-seining skiff that will work from the Talley’s tuna
vessel, Captain M J Souza, was finished in one of the PNL cargo
sheds, by local engineering company Aimex. Managing Director
Steve Sullivan says building this style of boat was a first for the
company. ”We had a tight time frame to meet, with the Souza due
to depart to American Samoa at the end of May,” he says. “Talley’s
arranged to use the PNL shed so the skiff could be sandblasted
and painted inside, to meet the tight time frame.”
PNL chairman Nick Patterson and Parke Pittar pause before embarking on a port
tour with Sir Anand Satyanand.
The 11m skiff was constructed at the Aimex workshop in
Vickerman St and was launched by crane at the port. Steve says
23 tonnes of steel went into the boat, which he describes as being
‘like a big overpowered dinghy’. The role of the skiff in the tuna
fishing operation is to tow the net from the mother-ship to form
a loop around the school of fish.
Long tow
Two weeks is a long time to spend on either end of a tow-line. In a trip that ended in Nelson on June 29, the tuna purse-seiner Cape Ferrat was
towed from Fiji by the Hong Kong tug PB Cook. Mike Newton of Pegasus Shipping says the vessel will be in Nelson for some time, as Diverse
Engineering carries out repairs. Mike says the owner brought the vessel to Nelson because of the excellent refit work offered here. A few days
later one of the Port Nelson cranes was used to lift the 38 tonne engine out of the vessel.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 4
supPORTing our region
Photo: Rick Bensemann
New Hospital
Needs More Rooms
It’s been such a success story, they already need more rooms at the
new Motueka Friendship Hospital, so Chairman of the Trust, Jack
Inglis is out again seeking community support. Opening a year
ago, the 44-bed facility was built on land owned by the trust, and
Jack says it was early support from Port Nelson Limited that helped
make it happen.
“I can’t say thank you enough - there is so much we need and
the fundraising just goes on as we move into the next stage of
development,” Jack says.
Recently Port Nelson gave another $1000 towards the Abel Tasman
Marble Mountain Bike Race, with funds raised through photo sales
from the event going to the Friends of Motueka Hospital Trust.
Big Day
for Heart Kids
A magic duck and a man balancing on a huge plastic ball were
crowd favourites at the Heart Children New Zealand’s Big Day
Out variety show held in Nelson in May. Organiser Jason Butler
said thanks to local business sponsors like Port Nelson, over 350
children and their families were entertained with magic, juggling,
globe walking and hula-hooping. André and Doctor Duck (below)
were a big hit.
Around twelve babies in New Zealand each week are born with
a heart defect, making it the most common birth abnormality in
this country. Heart Children provides support to families, from the
hospital to their homes.
Growing rugby players
As well as investing
in its own future, the
port company is also
investing in the future
development of
young rugby players.
CEO Martin Byrne
recently announced a
sponsorship deal with
the Tasman Rugby
Union’s Nelson Rugby
Academy.
Academy manager
Leon MacDonald says
the sponsorship will
make a real difference
to the future of
rugby in the region.
“This support will give
us the resources we
need to work with
the Academy players
who could be the
next Makos, the next
generation of Super 14
players and who knows,
some may even become
All Blacks”.
By close association
It helps pay the rent, but the port company’s financial support means
a lot more than that to the Port Nelson Fisherman’s Association.
President, Carol Scott says the fishing industry is Nelson’s biggest
employer, and the long relationship the association has with Port
Nelson Limited is very important. “The funding from PNL helps
cover our operating costs and means we can continue representing
the interests and needs of owner-operator commercial fishermen
in Nelson.”

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 5
To date P&FR have successfully reared several key seafood and aquaculture
species and have released 220,000 young snapper into the Haven. Sharon Ford
and Warren Fantham check out their babies.
Fish Ponds
There’s a new look coming to a little-used part of the port, with Plant
& Food Research (P&FR) taking over the western end of the Akersten
Street reclamation. They were looking for a flat area to grow fish in
ponds, and this piece of land suits their needs well and has the water
quality needed for rearing fish. P&FR science group leader Alistair
Jerrett says the site will be complimentary to their facilities on
Wakefield Quay. “Having ponds to hold and rear fish is a substantial
step forward in allowing us to help our local seafood companies
extract better value from wild fisheries and to support aquaculture.”
Port Nelson tidied up the Akersten Street site, laid on water, phone and
power supply and did some fence repairs to make the area secure.
High winds in the yard
A stack of containers presents a serious risk when the wind is howling
across the port, particularly when it’s a nor-easterly that has some
equinoctial force behind it. To ensure the safety of staff, contractors
and property, we had to close the Container Yard several times
during the period from March to May, and we are now installing wind
monitors to take any ‘hit or miss’ out of this decision, with the most
recent monitor installed on the light tower near the ro-ro berth.
“We close the yard down when the wind gets to 40 knots,” says
Terminal Operations Supervisor Andy Farmer. “Often it’s just for a
short time… the wind in Nelson has a habit of ramping up on the
turn of the tide and then falling off again quite rapidly.”
Andy says it’s not just the risk of boxes blowing down in the wind: “We
also have to work to the safe operating parameters of the hi-stackers
– a big box moving along at height creates an effect like a sail.”
When the Container Yard is closed staff are called in, contractors
are informed and if it is closed for a longer period, customers are
phoned.
Port Nelson has had wind monitors for the pilots’ use for some time,
and the new monitors around the boundaries of the Container Yard
feed into the same meteorological information software and can be
accessed by computer.
port progress
The last few centimetres of winch cable as a crane lowers its spreader are vital in keeping down the noise of operation. To assist the operators
to make that moment of touch as gentle as possible we have just fitted our two Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes with a Height Indication
System (HIS). This meant installing an ultrasonic sensor in the spreader, that sends a signal to the winch as the container gets closer, and slows
down the descent.
“It seems to be pretty effective and has been well received by the operators,” says workshop supervisor Craig Terris. “We still have to rely on the
operators to take care with putting containers down on the wharf or onto a trailer, but we’ve removed one of the potential noise sources.”

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 6
around the port...
The apples are off
The winds of autumn have given way to the calm, clear
days of winter and something similar has happened in
port operations. Getting Nelson’s export fruit crop to
world markets, alongside dealing with normal shipping,
always makes for a very busy period for us in April, May
and June, with relative calm descending around the
shortest day.
Port Logistics Manager Digby Kynaston says this year’s
crop was later in getting started, but went well with
the port offering longer hours at cargo reception, and
shipping lines providing an extra loader programme.
In all there were 11 of these larger vessels, four were
from Hamburg Sud and the other calls were made by
the Maersk Batur and the Maersk Brani.
Storage of empty containers is always an issue in the
fruit season, and this year saw more ‘off port’ storage,
with containers stacked at the layup berths and in
adjacent carparks. Between logs and apples, there
was a lot of communication and management
needed to maximise the space available for
these two big export commodities.
A pallet of apples being slung aboard the Frio Hellenic,
the last of the five Enza conventional loaders for the
season, in port on the shortest day.
The Maersk Batur was the first and last of the ‘extraloaders’
that called during the fruit season,
making her final visit in mid-June. Seen here
riding high in the water before loading
gives an impression of the size of
the vessel. Capable of carrying
3075 TEU, the 223m ship was
launched in South Korea
last year.
Taking the port with her
When Amanda Lockwood, Customer Relations and Business
Development, goes out and about she takes a little slice of the port
with her. Amanda’s car has been sign-written with nautical imagery
and certainly stands out among the traffic. From the sides there are
shipping scenes and from behind you’d swear you were in the wake
of our tug Huria Matenga.
Ferryland?
Are we in Picton? There could have been confusion about which Top
of the South port was which during May, when the Interisland ferry
Arahura was in Nelson for a refit led by Challenge Marine Ltd. Sitting
alongside our cranes the vessel made an unusual sight at the Main
Wharf. Adding to the ‘Picton factor’ we now have regular calls from
Strait Shipping’s MV Monte Stello. The passenger ferry picked up the
freight only Nelson-Wellington run when the Kent was sold in April.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 7
X-Ray Eyes
A visit from the HCV Customs X-ray truck and mobile team gave
the port customs documentation systems a complete health check
recently. Customs Port Manager, Peter Preston says as part of the
four-day operation nearly 100 export containers and some import
containers were x-rayed and a full documentation check made.
Peter says if the x-ray picks up any inconsistencies in the containers,
a physical inspection is made.
“There are stringent rules around exports and an operation like this
helps give assurance to other countries that our systems are robust,
and will pick up any undeclared exports,” he says.
Loaded with logs
The forestry industry has shrugged off a difficult few years
and is enjoying a golden period driven by demand
for logs and international buyer rejection of
unsustainably or illegally harvested trees. From
a low point of $NZ121 a JAS m 3 in the key
Chinese and Korean markets early last
year, prices have gone as high as $200
a JAS m 3 .
Photo: Ross Wearing
Simply Wild
Milo Coldren has featured in these pages in his role with the Mission
to Seafarers, but this time he’s wearing his captain’s hat as the TS
Talisman Sea Cadet Unit Commander, and skipper of his own yacht
Simply Wild. Milo led an enthusiastic bunch of cadets in a massive
fundraising bid and set sail with them on July 2 for the trip of a
lifetime, sailing to Noumea. He said the aim was to show the kids
that with ‘dreams, perseverance and hard work’ they could achieve
just about anything.
The hike in prices is good news for forestry and logging
contractors, and has flowed through to Port Nelson where
log exports have stayed consistently high. Port Logistics
Manager Digby Kynaston says nearly 600 thousand cu m of
logs have passed over the wharf in the first nine months of
this financial year, compared to 454 thousand for the same
period in 2008-09.
“Last year people were wondering how long the bullish
Chinese market would hold up, but popular opinion now is
that it will continue,” he said. “The only downside is that this
created a shortage of logs and a higher price for local sawmills
for a time and a temporary fall off in timber exports.”
Forest Owners’ Chief Executive David Rhodes said earlier
in the year that the international balance of supply and
demand appeared to be moving in favour of forest
plantation owners. Mr Rhodes said on his return from an
international forest and wood products conference in
Japan, that large areas of natural forest were being protected
in reserves and national parks, while international
pressure on illegal loggers was having an effect, with
such products harder to sell: “Meanwhile, there is growing
demand for products that are renewable and recyclable.”
He said demand was also being driven by the world’s
burgeoning population, especially growing middle classes
in India, China and parts of Asia, as well as by forestry’s role
in addressing climate change.
Some information from Otago Daily Times.
...and beyond

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 8
On the big screen
The information superhighway has come to a staff room near you! Following
a practice that’s becoming more common in ports here and overseas, we
now have large monitors in work areas around the port to provide an
information flow to frontline staff. The screens are tailored to each workplace,
with different information for stevedores, the workshop, QuayPack and so on.
Each department can build up ‘pods’ or mini-windows on the screen, with
information that is specifically relevant to them. For example the stevedores
can see how long it took to load a vessel, and compare that with other times
the same vessel has been in port. Container Yard staff can see what the average
truck turnaround time is, as well as the 'dwell' time for each container, and
compare this with earlier data. Terminal Operations Supervisor Andy Farmer
says staff have been showing a lot of interest in the screens.
“The information changes all the time, which keeps interest up,” he says. “The
interactive factor makes it a lot more stimulating than a noticeboard.”
our port our people
Training the trainers
Whether it’s your old School Certificate or a new B.Com, people value
their qualifications, and the ‘pieces of paper’ that represent them.
We’re in the process of moving to formalise the training of our staff,
providing them with personal records of their training and with
qualifications that have a value outside the company.
“It’s a commitment to our people,” says Port Logistics Manager Digby
Kynaston, “We are giving them the skills to do the job well, recognising
their training, and at the same time formalising the records we keep.”
In the last issue of RePort we noted that Chris Clark had joined us as
a training consultant. He’s been working closely with our Safety and
Training Officer Jim Lane and Stevedoring Supervisor Shane King on
the introduction of Tranzqual standards. Tranzqual is the Industry
Training Organisation for the transport and logistics sector, and offers
NZQA modules in cargo and stevedoring operations. The preparation
stage involved Chris and Shane producing course workbooks specific
to our worksite, and then the first group of people who will become
our trainers went down to the Lyttelton Port Company where the
system has been in place for some time. Assessors and trainers have
to pass the qualifications before they can start training others, which
involved Lyttelton staff coming back up to Port Nelson.
‘Buckets of enthusiasm’
George Findlay and Gary Horan from the Port of Lyttelton assess the trainers who
will carry out the training of staff at Port Nelson.
There were some complaints of writers’ cramp as people who’d been
away from the school desk for many years got down to the business
of passing their NZQA unit standards.
“There’s quite a lot of theory, it’s about 20/80 practical to theory,”
said Kevin McCreanor from Lyttelton Port. “The Port Nelson team
have approached this with buckets of enthusiasm, and the spin-off
is that we’re developing a rapport between the two ports that will be
invaluable in the future.”
Mark Trathen, Andy Farmer and Shane King can see what’s coming! Phase 2 of the pod
software includes a Google map, superimposed with AIS (automatic identification system)
real time information on ship movements.
Chris Shand presents Ron
with a gift to mark his silver
anniversary at the port.
Ron's long service
Stevedoring Operational Supervisor Ron
Whall celebrated 25 years service at the
port on June 3, joining a select band of
‘silver servers’. Ron started with the Nelson
Harbour Board, working in the engine
room of the dredge Karatea, then moving
into maintenance, building paths and
boat ramps as the Maitai reclamation took
shape. When Port Reform saw the setting
up of Tasman Bay Stevedoring, Ron was
sent to Auckland to train as a foreman.
He says he’s seen some huge changes:
“Apples used to be packed carton by carton, and log loading is a lot
easier since bar-coding, but the biggest shift is containerisation.”
The beginning of this was the purchase of the Coles Colossus Crane
bought at the same time as there were problems with subsidence in
the roof of the number #3 shed: “There used to be a joke that number
#3 shed moved more often than the old Coles Crane!” says Ron.
Rest, recreation & retirement
Warren Green is off on a world trip with his wife Margaret, after
retiring in April as Manager of C3, the company that does the log
marshalling at Port Nelson. But he plans to be back soon behind the
wheel of a loader doing some casual work.
“Swinging into the cab of a loader is a lot more comfortable now
than it was 46 years ago when I started,“ says Warren. He notes other
big changes in IT and in health and safety standards: “When I first
started you could turn up and drive in your jandals – now you’d get
your bum kicked.”
Warren caught up with some of his past workmates at a retirement
function held at the Honest Lawyer and was presented with a Bill
Burke original painting depicting log loading at the port, by CEO
Martin Byrne.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 9
Safe Water
safe harbour
There’ll be no missing a new beacon that’s just been installed off the end of Kingsford and
McGlashen Quays. It replaces Beacon 10, a starboard beacon, indicating safe water to the right hand
side of a vessel. Because there is actually deep enough water on both sides, the replacement is a
safe-water marker, and is vertically striped in red and white, with a red buoy and a white flashing
light on top, as decreed by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities’ Maritime
Buoyage System.
Harbourmaster and Marine Operations Manager, Dave Duncan, says the new marker will be an aid
to pilots and will also let fishing vessels and recreational boaties know that they are approaching
safe water.
Meantime, at the beginning of winter, general maintenance repairs were carried out on Beacon 8.
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Logging on to
Launceston
t
If a learner driver takes a corner a bit wide, it
probably just means a few more grey hairs for
mum or dad in the passenger seat. When the
learner driver is on the bridge of a huge ship
there is a lot more at stake. This is why our pilots,
for many years have trained at the Australian
Maritime College in Launceston, where the Centre
for Maritime Simulations has a ‘virtual’ Port Nelson,
complete with local weather and tidal conditions.
Spin off benefit
While Dave and Gavin were at the Centre for Maritime Simulations in Launceston they took
the opportunity to see how the planned ‘exclusion zone’ marker would work. They found
the intended site actually made the turn more complex for the pilots, and as a result the
marker is moving north. “It will now be placed at the edge of the shallow water on the 5m
contour,” Dave says. “This is a much better position and gives us another transit lead as a
turning reference coming into port.”
Marine Operations Manager Dave Duncan is
training to become a pilot, and visited Launceston in
May with pilot Gavin Giblett. There was something
a little different this year, in that the ‘folks back
home’ in this case Troy Dando, Marine Customer
Services, could log on and see how Gavin and Dave
were doing. Dave says it was good experience for
Troy to see the sort of issues the pilots face – and a
lot cheaper than another airfare.
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Bye-bye bylaws
The Nelson City Council is updating its navigation bylaws, driven by the recommendations of
the Navigational Risk Assessment Report released in 2008, which highlighted the Cut as a major
hazard for shipping and boating. Council plans to combine the Navigation and Safety Bylaw
and the Recreational Marina Bylaw into one, with some changes including the introduction of a
‘moving prohibited zone’ and a ‘total exclusion zone’. This will ensure large vessels coming through
the Cut have the entire waterway to themselves and their tugs, so that any unforeseen tide or
wind effect can be countered without the need to work around other craft. The draft bylaws
have been out for public consultation, and the next stage will be hearing the submissions.
Keeping Safe
We welcome any suggestions or information to make Port Nelson a safer working environment.
If you have a name you would like added to our mailing list, please let us know.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 10
meet the client
Nelson Forests Ltd
65,000 hectares of forest, 100 staff, 500 contractors, and an annual harvest of one million cubic
metres per year… it’s little wonder that Nelson Forests Limited is Port Nelson’s biggest customer!
Nelson Forests Ltd was formed in
late 2007, when the US forest giant
Weyerhaeuser relinquished its New
Zealand investments, allowing its joint
venture partner of institutional investors
advised by Global Forest Partners (GFP)
to become the 100% owner.
Managing Director Lees Seymour says the
investors include the New Zealand Super
Fund as well as investors from the US,
Europe and Australia, with a management
committee from GFP taking a governance
role. Lees explains the forestry operation
runs on an estate model that predicts
the growth of trees and harvest volumes
in the various grades, from pruned saw
logs, to export logs, through post wood
to pulp grade.
“The estate model provides our strategy
– it drives everything and gives us
confidence,” he says. “It means we know
the harvesting capacity so we can go to
our customers with the grades and the
amounts we can supply, and it dictates the
workflow for the replanting and thinning
work that our contractors undertake.”
Lees says after a big lift in harvest volumes in the 2001-02 year, there
is now a stable operating platform of a sustainable one million cubic
metres per year. And he says for Nelson Forests, the term ‘sustainable’
is taken literally.
“In 1996 we were the first forest company in New Zealand to achieve
ISO 14001 environmental accreditation, and we have recently
Coronation Forest Week
Since 1954 Nelson school children have gone
into the forest to plant trees, with some families
now having three generations of planters. A
conservation trail is part of the day out that’s still
enjoyed by Nelson kids.
Other forest users include car rallies, mountain
bikers, horse riders and hunters. People are asked
to get a permit to ensure they stay clear of
harvesting and don’t clash with other users.
Moving ahead
Over the past decade Nelson Forests has become
more heavily mechanised, with mechanical felling
machines and log processors at harvesting sites.
“This means fewer people with chain saws,” Lees
explains. “It’s safer, more productive and more
conducive to getting people to work in the
forest.”
Nelson Forest Facts:
• Pinus radiata accounts for 80% of the forest.
• Other varieties include douglas fir, pinus
muricata, eucalypt and larch.
• 75,000 cu m of logs are processed annually at
Nelson Forests’ own mill at Kaituna
• Golden Downs, at 42,000 ha, is the biggest
forest block.
achieved the Forestry Stewardship
Council certification where we had
to demonstrate a ‘chain of custody’
throughout the forestry process.”
Lees says getting the FSC certification
did not require much change, as Nelson
Forests’ systems were already robust:
“We set very high standards with the
environmental aspects of the business
and with health and safety…we set the
bar higher than the regulations require.”
Nelson Forests employs around 100
people directly, with 70 of those working
at the Kaituna timber mill, near Renwick.
The 28 people at the company’s base
in Richmond work on the modelling of
the estate, carry out the inventory of the
forest, plan planting, thinning and the
harvest, gain resource consents where
required for roading; they interface with
contractors, handle logistics such as
delivery of the right grades to customers,
liaise with customers here and offshore
and organise shipping.
“The port is important to the forestry
industry and to our business – for both
export logs and processed products,” Lees says. “We have a good
relationship with Port Nelson and with Tasman Bay Stevedoring.
Initiatives such as setting up QuayPack have been a real help to us.”
But Lees also adds that while people see a lot of wood going through
the port, they are not aware of the big amounts that go to other
customers.

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 11
Sealord representative
on the Environment
Committee, Graeme
Fox (rear) and Gavin
Rasmussen with the boom
kept ready to contain any oil
spills from ships bunkering at
the Sealord wharf.
Could it happen here?
With the disastrous Gulf oil spill creating international news, we
invited Stephen Lawrence, the Nelson City Council on-scene
commander for the oil response team to talk to the Environmental
Consultation Committee.
Stephen explained the four tier structure New Zealand has in
place for oil response, starting with operators handling the spill
themselves, progressing through to calling in the local authority,
then on to a national response, and the fourth stage when the
response becomes international.
Responding to marine oil spills is funded by a levy on shipping that
covers local training and equipment, while costs for spills are sought
from those responsible. In Nelson there is a team of 25 people on the
staff of the two councils, Port Nelson and fishing companies, ready
to respond to spills. Most spills in the Haven have been from fuel
bunkering and have been around two to three hundred litres, but if
there was a big spill from a Taranaki well, modelling shows crude could
form tar balls that would wash up in Nelson and Golden Bay. So in short,
Nelson does not face a parallel spill to what’s happened in the Gulf; but
we are well prepared for the sort of spill more likely to happen here.
Fumigation draws the visitors
Port Nelson’s lead on recapture of the methyl bromide used to
fumigate timber is drawing visitors to the port - admittedly it’s a very
specific type of tourist that wants to log this trip in their travel diary!
In May we had two parties of officials looking at the recapture
infrastructure used by the fumigation company Genera. The first
group were here from Thailand, as part of a Ministry for the
Environment exchange of information. Thailand is phasing out
methyl bromide and the group was interested in the history of the
gas’s use and the way recapture is carried out.
Currently the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA)
has a reassessment panel on methyl bromide that met in Nelson
in May as part of a nationwide consultation. They visited the port
to see how recapture is carried out and were very impressed. We
await the decision of the ERMA reassessment with interest, but in
the meantime it is good to
know that at Port Nelson
the fumigation requirement
of the Australian
border authorities is met
with-out risk to workers,
near-by residents and the
environment.
Photo: Tim Cuff
It’s a small world
The global movement of people and commodities has brought
newcomers to the coastal eco-system, such as the pacific oysters
that we now see as normal on rocky shorelines. Russ Mincher,
one of the regional coordinators for the Top of the South Marine
Biosecurity Partnership, updated the Port Nelson Environment
Committee in June on the current threats, and the efforts being
made to keep them out of our waters.
Marine risk organisms in Port Nelson include Japanese kelp
(undaria), clubbed tunicate (styela), red seaweed (grateloupia)
and a range of seasquirts. The fight is now on to stop marine
risk organisms that have arrived in New Zealand but are
not established in the Top of the South. These include the
Mediterranean fan worm, which is established in Lyttelton and
Auckland, the aggressive Asian paddle crab, which is now in
Waitemata harbour, and the tiny but prolific Asian date mussel.
If you want to find out more about these organisms go to
www.biosecurity.govt.nz. If you think you have found anything
unusual in local waters, get a sample if possible, and report your
find to 0800 80 99 66.
Measuring & managing noise
The noise monitor on the cement silo is now feeding information
through to the computer on Environmental Officer Thomas
Marchant’s desk for analysis. He says it is proving a big help in our
moves to reduce port noise, as required by the noise variation to the
Nelson City Council’s Resource Management plan.
“The daily feed of data pin-points any noise peaks, so we have
information that can be correlated with any complaints from
residents,” he says. “This makes it a lot easier to see if it’s a port
operation that made the noise and, if so, to track down the source,
and take steps to minimise the noise.”
Combined with ongoing training and awareness raising, this has
helped to get the noise incidents down and the calls to the port or
the council about noise have fallen away markedly.
A happy customer…
Ear plugs that hurt your ears
and a pillow over your head.
That’s no way to get a good
night’s sleep but it was what
port hillside neighbour Michele
Surcouf had resorted to as she
wrangled with officialdom over
her entitlements for noiseproofing
her house. Michele’s
charming villa presented
numerous noise insulation
challenges until she came up
with her own solution: closing
in her verandah. This effectively
wrapped her bedroom in a
Thomas & Michele
in the glassed in
veranda.
sound resistant shell, and an agreement was reached with PNL to
pay for the work. The other measures taken included installing 45
panes of laminated sound proof glass and mechanical ventilation
systems.
“My bedroom is amazing now,” says Michele. “Matt and Thomas
have been fantastic – with a creative and flexible approach we
found a solution that was much cheaper for everyone.”
RePort is Green
In line with our environmental policies RePort uses elemental
chlorine free paper produced from sustainably managed forests.
RePort is printed with vegetable based inks.
environment update

Port Nelson Limited report. August 2010. Page 12
Port Nelson Haven Ahoy!
Nelsonians and our summer visitors are about to find out a whole lot more about the
conditions our forebears endured to become New Zealanders. We are proud to be the major
sponsor of a new exhibition, Port Nelson, Haven Ahoy! at the Nelson Provincial Museum.
looking back
When the early settlers arrived in Nelson in the 1840s the township was some distance from their landing at Auckland Point.
The Nelson Provincial Museum, Bett Collection: 6x8 41
Haven Ahoy! is expected to attract around 20,000 people from
October to April 2011, with lots of hands-on opportunities to appeal
to families and schools. When people enter the show they’ll pass a
giant suitcase with information about what settlers had to take with
them on the journey and background on the conditions in England
in the 19 th century that drove them to risk such a journey.
Inside, the exhibition area will be divided up into the parts of the
ship, including the hold, cabin areas, the first class ‘cuddy’ where the
‘gentlefolk’ played cards and wrote their diaries, the captain’s cabin with
charts and navigation tools and the deck with ropes and knots. Contract
exhibition designer Sally Papps says people will be able see what it was
like to spend four or five months in a family bunk in steerage.
“We’re creating a bunk space 3ft by 6ft that was for a whole family -
some days when the weather was bad they were locked down and had
to stay in the steerage area,” Sally says. “At the end of the bunk there
was a plank to sit on if you wanted to get out of bed. Confined like that
it was no wonder diseases like measles took such as toll in steerage.”
The exhibition includes excerpts from
diaries and logs written onboard ship.
Here are some examples (with the spelling and grammar
unchanged):
Saturday 16th April 1842 Mrs Lusty is removed into hospital in
consequence of her berth being situated too close to the water closet
as to be very disgusting and injurious in her present delicate health.
Thomas Hughes, Surgeon’s Log [The Clifford] Nelson Provincial Museum
Collection UMS 1330
Tuesday 18 Jan 1842 We ascended the stairs on hearing a great noise
on deck & found it was a young shark caught it was taken of the
quarter deck & killed first they cut off its tail & put it in its mouth &
then beat it to death with clubs the Emigrants have eaten the whole
of it. Gapper family diary [The Clifford] Nelson Provincial Museum
Collection MS-copy-009
Dec 31, 1841 We stayed up to see the Old Year out and the New
Year ushered in with a grand ringing of the ship’s bell. This ringing
having been done without any notice being given to the emigrants,
it frightened several who considered the bell a signal for calling
all together. They feared there had been an accident to the ship,
especially so because of the icebergs in the neighbourhood, which
had made several people very nervous. So ended the year 1841.
TJ Thompson Diary [Lord Auckland] Nelson Provincial Museum
Collection QMS THO
And some advice from a book Sally describes as the ‘Lonely Planet’ of its
time: A new colony is a complete ‘Little Peddlington’ – a very hotbed
of tittle-tattle – and in less than a week from his arrival, the conduct
of every cabin passenger on board will have become known all
over the settlement - and will have been appreciated accordingly, a
circumstance not unfrequently at once deciding the position of the
party in colonial society.
New Zealand, its Emigration and its Gold Fields G Butler Earp, 1853
Nelson Provincial Museum Collection