About 6 Wharf

The planned wharf will be 350 metres long and 34 metres wide, allowing us to service more and larger vessels.

It will be located within the port’s existing boundary on the northern face of the container terminal to take advantage of the existing breakwater.

We plan to start construction early 2020 (calendar year) and complete the wharf in the second half of 2022.

Stage one dredging is planned from mid-2020.

So ships can use 6 Wharf we need to create a berth pocket to a depth of 13.0 metres and create a slope underneath the wharf where the shore protection will be placed. We also need to extend the swinging basin (where ships turn), dredge parts of the inner harbour and deepen the shipping channel closest to the port 12.5 metres deep.

This stage involves dredging and disposing approximately 1.3 million cubic metres of dredged material.

Stages two to five dredging is not required in the next few years while we build 6 Wharf and will only take place as required. This part of the project will allow the port to handle even larger ships as ship drafts continue to increase (we’ve secured resource consents for 35 years).

This involves extending the channel and increasing its depth by 0.5 metre each stage to a maximum depth of 14.5 metres. Each stage will take up to nine weeks and involve dredging and disposing a similar volume of material; the overall total being around 3.2 million cubic metres.

Napier Port has secured resource consents to deposit and dispose of dredged material for stage one of the project at a site that is 5 kilometres to the east of the port.

The consultation and scientific work over the past few years shows that this is the best disposal site to minimise any impact from dredging and disposal. At 20 to 23 metres deep, material disposed here has less chance of being disturbed by adverse weather events. The prevailing south-directed current also takes sediment away from Pania Reef, and minimises the chances of disturbing marine life and ecology.

Prior to applying for resource consents we undertook extensive studies and modelling to understand the ecology of Pania Reef.

The reef is a special conservation area and a site of significance to mana whenua as the embodiment of Pania, a prominent ancestor.

It’s also an important spot for kai moana and the fishing community.

We’ve designed the dredging project to preserve the mauri of the reef and ensure sediment plume created by planned dredging will not threaten the reef and ecology. We’ll also be undertaking environmental monitoring, which will guide our dredging operations.

Napier Port has a number of permanent monitoring buoys anchored in the surrounding harbour to guide our daily operations.

Before we applied for resource consents we put in additional buoys to gather data about tides, wave heights, currents, turbidity (clarity) of the water and underwater noise.

The wave buoy (G), turbidity buoys (E & F) and weather station (H) remain in place and will continue to track conditions, such as water clarity in real-time to ensure our planned dredging is not impacting the existing ecology of Pania Reef. We’ll adapt dredging operations based on conditions at the time.

You can check out our live environmental monitoring dashboard here.

We’ve built an on-port penguin sanctuary to protect the kororā or little blue penguins that nest in and around the sea walls at Napier Port.

We’ve undertaken research to understand and protect the species and their habitat and have prepared an Avian Management Plan with the Department of Conservation, mana whenua and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to ensure we protect the kororā and other  birdlife during construction.

You can read more about the on-port penguin sanctuary we are developing here. 

In partnership with stakeholders, such as the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, mana whenua and the fishing community, the port has produced comprehensive and best practice management plans to ensure it protects the environment and cultural values during the project. This includes marine mammals, the kororā (little blue penguin) that nest on-port, cultural values of mana whenua, water quality, fisheries and fauna. Read more about the management plans here.

The port is currently undertaking preliminary work (procuring materials such as concrete and pile casings) and establishing the construction site with HEB Construction.

Construction will start subject to remaining building and administrative consents, which the port expects to receive before construction is due to commence.