Bowalley Road: The Auckland Ports Dispute: An Injury To All

Bowalley Road: The Auckland Ports Dispute: An Injury To All

"Auckland Regional Holdings was clearer in 2009 stating: “The sector is engaging in destructive interregional competition that is detrimental to New Zealand’s long-term productivity and competitiveness, and could be considered an instance of “market failure”. For the good of the country, it is clear that the port sector needs to change and focus on the real threat – not from each other – but from outside.” 2

The current move to slash employment costs by making staff on-call, round the clock casual workers without compensation for lifestyle or job insecurity is another step toward creating a third world nation"".

Kia-ora

"We had to wait 5 days to pump the oil out of the Rena"

Kia-ora

The contradictory statements and outright spin coming from Maritime New Zealand and National are excuses for delay, not reasons.

I know,, that given the resources, pumps, tugs, helicopters, barges, hoses and other equipment available in Marsden point, Tauranga and Auckland, oil could have been pumping off the vessel within 24 hours of the grounding.

We know the ship had power and heating to the bunker tanks for the first few days.

It was obvious to mariners that with damage forward and the depths below the ship she would be aground for many weeks, if she could be refloated at all.

Given that,  power and fuel oil heating would be lost if the ship was more damaged, bad weather was forecast within a week and the ship was only supported along half her length, making breaking up in bad weather almost certain, getting the oil off should have been top priority.

MNZ's on scene commander has the legal powers to commandeer equipment, vessels and personnel to avoid oil pollution.

Ships piping can be adapted to pump overside to a barge within a lot less than 4 days.

Heating would have been on for at least the tanks in use. Takes less than a day to heat further tanks.

If the pipework was too damaged to use, which was highly unlikely for the after bunkers, portable pumps and generators could have been choppered to the vessel within hours.

While the oil was hot almost any pumps could have been used at rates of hundreds of ton an hour. Instead of a specialised displacement pump, required, after it had cooled.

Any barge or vessel capable of holding oil, which there were several around, could have been used to pump into, initially.

Awanuia does not take 4 days to go to Marsden point, empty, and return to Tauranga. More like 8 hours to Marsden point. About 7 to discharge and no more than 12 hours to Tauranga.

Bunker piping is available on the wharf in all three ports.

We have Mates, Masters and engineers in NZ that have years of experience on pumping fuel between ships and making things work in adverse conditions.

When we have a valve failure in a tanker we do not leave it sitting around for 5 days at 60k plus a day while we wait for an overseas expert or for negotiations with insurance companies.  . We open a manhole and pump it out using a salvage pump.

If fuel pipes or anything else fails at sea. We fix it

The whole thing is an in indictment on the lack of preparedness of MNZ, helped by lack of funding and lack of experienced and qualified seafarers in the top ranks.

It has become obvious that MNZ had no idea of the personnel and equipment, already on hand, that could be used.

Strange, considering that some of the skilled personnel work for MNZ.

This episode has also exposed the lack of preparedness and equipment for a serious spill. Due to lack of funding.  To keep the costs of oil pollution levies, and hence shipping costs down.

Successive Governments have been told many times  the race for the cheapest shipping costs makes more of this sort of accident inevitable. They all failed in their duty to prepare for it.

Appointing chair polishing ignoramus as bosses in MNZ, allowing substandard FOC ships, many of which which would not be allowed on the EC coasts, to  starving emergency response planning and equipping of funding, is at the door of all our Neo-Liberal Governments since 1984.

The ineptitude and lack of preparedness does not make me confident of their ability to monitor deep sea drilling.

On the foreshore and seabed.

Kia-ora
I strongly believe all foreshore and seabed should be commons. None should be in private hands and none should be salable because a future right wing Government decides.



"The Greens are confident that if we lay aside our fear and anger it is possible to reach agreement about a system that recognises Maori Customary title, prevents it from being turned into individual saleable title, provides for all New Zealanders to have access to the beach provided they respect it, and puts in place a range of measures to ensure the values we all cherish on the coast are protected.
It can only happen through rebuilding trust and good will. The heritage of the Commons is one of Europe's gifts to our cultural imagination; the Customary tenure of iwi and hapu is an indigenous taonga. Together, they can give us a shared appreciation of a sustainable relationship with our environment."

Kia-ora
 From Wikipedia.
One of the main corporate members is BP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Business_Council_for_Sustainable_Development

WBCSD's 10 messages by which to operate

1. Business is good for sustainable development and sustainable development is good for business. Business is part of the sustainable development solution, while sustainable development is an effective long-term business growth strategy.
2. Business cannot succeed in societies that fail. There is no future for successful business if the societies that surround it are not working. Governments and business must create partnerships to deliver essential societal services like energy, water, health care and infrastructure.
3. Poverty is a key enemy to stable societies. Poverty creates political and economic instability, a big threat to business and sustainable development. By contrast, businesses can lift living standards and eradicate poverty.
4. Access to markets for all supports sustainable development. Sustainable development is best achieved through open, transparent and competitive global markets.
5. Good governance is needed to make business a part of the solution. Supportive frameworks and regulations are needed for business to contribute fully to sustainable development.
6. Business has to earn its licence to operate, innovate and grow. The way business acts and is perceived is crucial to its success. Accountability, ethics, transparency, social and environmental responsibility and trust are basic prerequisites for successful business and sustainable development.
7. Innovation and technology development are crucial to sustainable development. They provide key solutions to many of the problems that threaten sustainable development. Business has always been, and will continue to be, the main contributor to technological development.
8. Eco-efficiency – doing more with less - is at the core of the business case for sustainable development. Combining environmental and economic operational excellence to deliver goods and services with lower external impacts and higher quality-of-life benefits is a key sustainable development strategy for business.
9. Ecosystems in balance – a prerequisite for business. Business cannot function if ecosystems and the services they deliver, such as water, biodiversity, food, fiber and climate, are degraded.
10. Cooperation beats confrontation. Sustainable development challenges are huge and require contributions from all parties — governments, business, civil societies and international bodies. Confrontation puts the solutions at risk. Cooperation and creative partnerships foster sustainable development.^[10]

Kia-ora

All foreshore and seabed should be crown land, owned by all of us. No private rights to the foreshore should be allowed apart from leases for necessary activities such as ports, moorings, marine activity clubs and some aquaculture etc.

The public and iwi should also have a say in any coastal activity. Maori are quite right in saying why should their rights to go to court over title be removed without addressing the foreshore already alienated in private ownership.
No one should be able to take up large parts of the coast for things like aquaculture without limitations regarding public access and environmental and cultural limitations.

Unfortunately some Iwi want ownership for purely commercial reasons, Fortunately many others want to maintain Guardianship which most New Zealanders would agree is reasonable.

If ownership rights which can be proved in court are removed compensation can come for both Maori and Pakeha owners from treaty compensation funds.

The queens chain should be part of all new development and enforced on farmland etc where it already exists. Too often when walking or rowing up a stream, or on a paper road we get told by some arrogant cockie that we are on his! land.

Some cases where taking public ownership may be manifestly unjust such as when foreshore has eroded in front of a house could be grandfathered.