April 2009 (pdf) - Port Nelson

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Port Nelson Limited report. April 2009. Page 10 meet the client Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd It’s the second ‘most used commodity’ in the world after water, and it’s delivered to our port every fortnight. The product is cement from Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd, a leading global supplier with New Zealand origins dating back to 1888. Holcim now supplies cement in bulk to ready-mix concrete and other customers using eight dedicated marine terminals at the ports of Auckland, Napier, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin and Nelson. Cement supplied to Nelson comes from Holcim’s Westport works, which have been operating virtually non-stop for the last fifty years. Tim Knight is the Nelson Depot Supervisor, and he and a tanker driver oversee the discharge of bulk cement from the two carriers, MV Milburn Carrier II and MV Westport to the 27m storage silo on Wakefield Quay, and thence around the Top of the South. The vessels visit Nelson every couple of weeks and can discharge pneumatically between 180 and 330 tonnes per hour, taking around 12 -14 hours to fill the 2800 tonne capacity silo. With both vessels making around 300 port calls each year, Tim says he really appreciates the work that goes on behind the scenes to make the berth available to the ships. “Port Nelson Ltd ties our ships up and provides services, so we have a very close relationship,” he says. “The location of our pipes means we are restricted to just one berth – so it’s a big task to fit our needs in with the rest of the shipping schedule. The port company has their own matrix to juggle and because of the nature of the business, things can change fast but we rarely have a delay and they keep us well notified.” Limestone is quarried at Cape Foulwind, processed into cement at the Westport Works, then trucked and stored in silos at the Westport wharf before being loaded on to the ships. Holcim Westport liaises with Port Nelson, and depending on the tides, the availability of the berth and the needs of other depots around the country, a schedule is worked out and Tim is notified. However, he says if there is a big job at another centre it might change the whole equation. Tim says Holcim does a fantastic job of forecasting and updating stocks everyday, and this ties into production. It also helps that concrete companies are good at giving Holcim notice of any big jobs they have coming up. Holcim and Port Nelson have a shared commitment to health and safety and environmental issues, and Tim says the company is great at keeping him informed about port activities. “As a contractor sited at the port we have monthly meetings with Cargo Operations and Port Security, stevedoring reps and others, and we are consulted about any issues that may affect our operations. For example, we were involved in an emergency plan for periphery services developed following the July 2008 storm that closed the port.” The Wakefield Quay cement silo had a makeover in 2002 when Holcim New Zealand rebranded. The global brand logo of Swiss company Holderbank Cement, a stylised black H painted over a red C, replaced the previous Milburn signage. It is now one of the most visible brands on the Nelson cityscape, which is fitting, since cement from the silo has helped to build our city and our region.
Major Step on Noise In early March the city council adopted the recommendations of independent commissioners on the management of port noise. The commissioners accepted the Port Noise Variation to the Nelson Resource Management Plan, with Port Nelson Ltd responsible for minimising the amount of port noise at the source, providing acoustic insulation to qualifying houses, and offering to purchase the most affected houses. Noise insulation standards are defined for alterations and new homes in the affected areas. This is a major step forward in a process that began in 1994. However, the decision by Council is open to appeal to the Environment Court 30 days from its release in early March. We have now completed noise mitigation works for the first two Stage 1 properties affected by port noise on Queens Road. The work has involved installing acoustic proof glass, re-lining and installation of ventilation systems. One of the two properties was bought by PNL at the request of the owner and now that the work is complete the property is back on the market. A free lunch? Port Nelson Limited report. April 2009. Page 11 Members of the Environmental Consultative Committee have been giving up their lunchtimes for many years now for the regular environmental meetings…looking for no reward other than a free lunch and an annual ride in a boat around the port! This year’s port tour included Nelson City Council Resource Management staff. The tour covered the slipway contaminant trap, the proposed infill behind Main Wharf South and storm water management. Introducing the Scrubber The new code of practice for methyl bromide fumigation that requires recapture of the fumigant is now in place, with new ducting, monitoring and scrubbing systems installed in Shed #3. The re-capture systems for containers and timber stacks operate until the concentration of methyl bromide is down to new levels set in the Air Plan. This season timber for export to Australia has been covered and fumigated in small blocks to allow the methyl bromide gas to be removed by the new Nordico Recovery system. Port Nelson is well ahead of the rest of the country on this issue and others are now following suite. A stack of timber being vented from under the covers in Shed #3. An added advantage of the new process is that much less methyl bromide is needed, compared with when the whole shed was filled. Environmental Management System Audit The impact of our operation on the local and the global environment came under scrutiny with the annual visit from the ISO 14001 auditor in early February. It was a pleasure to have the benefit of an outside eye looking at our system and bringing specialist knowledge of best practice in environmental management systems. The auditor commented that our system is shaping up well with high levels of staff awareness and progress towards targets. Mystery Maitai Pipes What do invasive marine organisms hate? The answer is fresh water, so it seems like a ‘no-brainer’ to divert some Maitai water into the marina to stop bio-fouling of boats. The suggestion came up at an Environmental Consultative Committee meeting, followed by a vague recollection that there were some pipes under the Akersten Street causeway that would do the job. Port Senior Engineering & Hydrographic Officer Murray McGuire couldn’t find the pipes on any plans and it was thought they may have silted up. But like many mysteries, the answer was actually quite obvious – at low tide the two 600mm pipes can be seen bubbling fresh water into the marina, just along from the curve in the road. A keen yachtie helped point them out, and he has even put in a ‘backyard’ diversion system. Port, Council and Cawthron staff gave the pipes a once over and will now measure water flow and salinity levels to assess whether the river water inflow will have any effect on bio-fouling. Insulation work on a Queens Road property 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
Page 1 and 2: April 2009 rePORT Editorial . . . .
Page 3 and 4: Port Nelson Limited report. April 2
Page 5 and 6: Main Wharf South Infill A wharf is
Page 7 and 8: Maersk City The annual influx of co
Page 9: Everything was real - except for th

April 2009 (pdf) - Port Nelson

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?