Despite a wave phenomenon that kept ships from the harbour for a week Eastland Port and log marshaling and stevedoring companies ISO and C3 shattered monthly log throughput records this June.
A total of 287,349 tonnes of wood was loaded onto 14 log vessels as they berthed one after the other at wharf 8.
Eastland Port manager Andrew Gaddum says shifting that amount of wood is testament to the reliability and professionalism of ISO and C3 staff.
“Both ISO and C3 have worked hard to increase their ship load rates, and while we still collectively have work to do in this area, the huge volume exported during the month is testament to their hard work and focus.
“The fact that there were no significant safety issues identified or reported during that extremely busy month is also exceedingly pleasing.”
“When ships are alongside a port, it’s costing the exporters money, so these guys are the ones that through their skilfulness and shear hard work, can get the ship turned around and off to market as quickly as possible”
ISO employs around 110 people and C3 employs around 70.
Mr Gaddum says June’s throughput figures are the highest the port has achieved since Eastland Port, part of Eastland Group, was formed 14 years ago.
“We saw an 83 percent occupancy of wharf 8. With 14 ships docking during the month, and each one taking one to three days to load, we are getting closer to maximum capacity.”
The figures are all the more impressive because between June 12 and June 19 we couldn’t dock any ships due to infra-gravity waves rolling into the harbour, says Mr Gaddum.
“Long waves or infra-gravity waves cause problems in harbours around the world. These waves can’t be seen as they are usually masked by the sea and swell waves. But they can energise a moored ship and cause excessive movement and surging against the mooring lines.”
“When the time between wave peaks becomes extended we have issues in our port with ships becoming difficult to manage alongside the wharf, meaning we have to hold ships at the anchorage until the surge event passes.”
Mr Gaddum says the combined length of wharf 8 and wharf 7 is 360m. Eastland Port can currently accommodate vessels 200m long but with the greater volumes of wood forecast to arrive over the next 15 years, Eastland Port needs the capacity to berth two 200m ships simultaneously at wharf 8 and wharf 7.
“Within our port we don’t have enough wharf frontage to berth two 200m vessels at once. We need to extend wharf 8 by about 80 metres to get both ships in safely and we need to do it now.”
Gisborne Chamber of Commerce CEO Terry Sheldrake last week took part in a special Eastland Port onsite tour giving port staff a chance to share twin berth development plans with iwi, business groups, and members of the public.
Mr Sheldrake says standing at the southern end of the port gave him a chance to fully appreciate the port’s need to grow its capacity.
“It gave me, and other Chamber members who attended a real insight into what’s needed for the logging industry to continue to flourish for this city. I encourage other groups invited on the tour to take advantage of this unique opportunity and look behind the scenes.
| An Eastland Port release || July 17, 2017 |||
MIL OSI – Some of New Zealand’s largest businesses are lagging behind their international counterparts in their levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to new data.
The research which measured CSR performance across more than 17,000 businesses globally found New Zealand companies ranked just 33 out of 36 countries across the CSR criteria of community, employees, governance and environment.
New Zealand general manager of GSK Anna Stove says Kiwi companies are potentially missing opportunities from a growing, ethically conscious market, and at the same time have an obligation to support social causes beyond their immediate interest in short-term profits.
“Increasingly, CSR information is used by customers, suppliers, employees and investors to make socially responsible decisions about who to buy from, transact with, work with and invest in.
“It is becoming essential for businesses to extend the traditional measurement of their financial outcomes to include a degree of their social impact as an indicator of performance – in other words, create a double bottom line,” she says.
Stove says organisations can’t commit to sustainable social investment unless they are profitable.
“While business scale helps provide the resources required for major ethical initiatives, it is the development of an organisational mindset that is the real prerequisite we need to effect change,” she says.
Stove says CSR has now evolved to become a key consideration for prospective employees and this trend is being driven by a demographic shift in the employment market.
“Millennials are expected to make up half of the global workforce by 2020 – and this generation more than others, is seeking a social conscience in the companies they work for.
“Ten years ago, a job candidate would talk about their interest in the products the business sells during an interview, while today the focus is on a company’s work in the community – this marks a major shift in one of the primary drivers of employment decisions,” she says.
Stove says that more research is needed to determine why New Zealand ranked below other markets in the latest study.
“While there could be a number of methodological reasons why NZ companies performed at this level that are difficult to identify, the results are a timely reminder for our organisations to assess their investment in CSR.
“If our corporate efforts don’t support our approach to marketing New Zealand’s identity, we will start to see an erosion of our nation’s brand equity. That’s something that will affect our tourism market but also other key parts of our economy like the agricultural sector which seek a premium for our food products,” she says.
She says it’s important to ensure that when an organisation develops their double bottom line strategy that the chosen causes align with the company’s values.
“Locally we are investing in the health and wellbeing of Kiwi children is important to us, which is why we invest in children’s charities, including suicide prevention which has seen us fund Youthline’s support line for two decades, as well as KidsCan and Save the Children working to address child poverty,
Stove says GSK’s global partnership with Save the Children combines scientific expertise and resource with the charity’s on-the-ground knowledge and the organisations aim to save the lives of 1 million children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
“Choosing the right charities to align with is a critical part of getting buy-in from your team and stakeholders. The first step is to conduct due diligence on the organisation, then look at making a long term social investment.
“The aim should be to develop a true partnership which is sustainable as charities may struggle if a supporting partner providing a significant annual donation drops out,” she says.
Stove believes at the same time, contributions must go beyond the financial.
“For employees to feel connected to the company’s social efforts it’s important for them to have direct contact with the charity which can be achieved by giving staff time off to support the organisation,
“Developing a connection with socially positive projects helps employees come to work with a sense of purpose,” she says.
Notes:
Data for the study was sourced through CSRHub, the world’s largest sustainability business intelligence database. Across the 17033 countries and 133 countries included in the analysis, only those markets with data from more than 25 companies were included in this study. This included 39 New Zealand listed companies.
| A NewsLive release || July 16, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242