Portsider-March-2020

Changing Gears

It has been a turbulent time worldwide post-31 December when China notified the World Health Organisation of several cases of unusual pneumonia in the city of Wuhan. These cases were eventually diagnosed as being caused by a virus we now know as Covid-19 pandemic.

The safety and wellbeing of our employees is of the upmost importance for the Board and Leadership Team during this pandemic. Measures have been put in place to increase the hygiene standards, physical distancing, creating teams to separate staff, sending staff home that can operate from a remote location and many more in line with the Ministry of Health guidelines.

At the point of writing this column the country is operating at Alert Level 4 with no certainty as to how long we will be at this status.

What we do know however is that ports are deemed essential businesses. The continued movement of essential goods across our wharves is necessary for the wellbeing of our communities. Trade has always been an important part of our economy however as we work our way out of this pandemic it will take on greater significance to help the country get “back on its feet again”.

Community Engagement

In the past six months South Port has rolled out our Community Engagement

Policy. The Port is working hard to improve our communication channels with the community. Part of this Policy is also to run a Port Open Day and allow the public onto the Port to look at our operations. On 15 March the first Port Open Day for 30+ years was run and was a huge success. Personally, I was very proud of the effort that our staff and organising committee put into the day and this shone through with the positive reactions displayed by our visitors (further detail and images will be provided in the July edition of the Portsider).

Dave Edge

Captain Dave Edge was a pilot at the Port for 30+ years until his retirement in 2013. In 2017 due to a shortage of pilotage resources Dave came back to support the Company and pilot vessel movements until our recently recruited pilots reach unlimited classification. This occurred recently with Captain Paul James obtaining his unlimited licence. This meant the last ship Captain Dave Edge piloted in Bluff was the cruise ship Bremen on 3 March 2020 and thirty years earlier she was also the first cruise ship he piloted under her original name Frontier Spirit, (although not the first ship piloted of course). The Company would like to thank Dave for his hard work, superb work ethic, humour and loyalty that he has shown over this time. Dave will be missed however still forms an

New Reach Stacker

The Company recently purchased a new Hyster reach stacker as a replacement for an aging machine used at the Port. As with any heavy machinery it is important to maintain a modern, reliable and efficient fleet given the growth the Company has seen over the past five years in the container trade. The reach stacker provides additional operating flexibility in the terminal allowing containers to be retrieved two-deep in a stack and also rotate containers 180 degrees when required.

important part of the team that supplies articles for the Portsider, so he is not entirely lost!

In signing off please be kind and considerate of each other during this time of uncertainty and hopefully when we publish the next Portsider we can comment on a rosier outlook for the country.

Nigel Gear

Vale

CAPTAIN LENNOX (LEN) MOUNSEY

The New Zealand maritime community will be saddened to learn that long-serving Bluff Pilot and Harbourmaster Len Mounsey has died.

Len was a ‘Geordie’ born in Newcastle upon Tyne in November 1932 and undertook his pre-sea training at H.M.S. Conway, one of Britain’s most prestigious training schools, being awarded an ‘Extra’ Leaving Certificate upon completion. In 1950 he joined the equally prestigious Shaw Savill and Albion Line as an apprentice. In 1952 Len made his first visit to Bluff aboard the Akaroa, never imagining that this was the port in which he was to spend the majority of his working life. Having obtained his Master ForeignGoing Certificate in 1959 Len continued with Shaw Savill, a career highlight being his appointment as Chief Officer to the Dominion Monarch, the largest passenger-cargo ship ever built for the New Zealand trade and a ship to which only the most highly regarded officers were sent. In 1965 Len applied for the position of Tugmaster with the Southland Harbour Board, an application which was successful and in 1966 Len, his wife Angela and their four children, settled in Bluff.

of Captain Bird. Becoming Harbourmaster did not preclude carrying out pilotage duties and on 20 January 1984 Len conducted his 2,000th pilotage, at that time a record for the Port. He also held a coastal pilot’s licence covering Fiordland and Stewart Island long before these became the Mecca for cruise ships they are today. In addition to the few cruise ships that visited Fiordland in those days Len piloted ships up to Deep Cove at the head of Doubtful Sound through which most of the heavy equipment and oil products for the Manapouri Power Scheme were imported. Under Len’s watch many improvements were made to the Port, perhaps the most important from a pilot’s viewpoint being the change in the navigation beacons, which eventually became solar powered, and the replacement of the elderly steam tug with two modern Voith tractor tugs.

Away from work Len was a leading figure at the Bluff Golf Club, enjoyed yachting on the Harbour, the company of his friends and the splendid view from his home overlooking the Port.

After a year as Tugmaster Len was promoted to junior Pilot and on 1 August 1968 to full Pilot. As a Pilot Len was without peer, his superb ship-handling ability prompting one ship’s master to write to the Board commending the ‘exceptional skill’ of the Pilot who had handled his ship.

After a brief period as Deputy Harbourmaster Len was appointed Harbourmaster at Bluff on 1 August 1968 upon the retirement

On 31 December 1990 Len retired after 24 years of service to the Port. He and Angela then moved to Pleasant Point, near Timaru, but recently returned south to be nearer their children. Len passed away peacefully on 27 January 2020, aged 87.

To Angela and family from all of us at South Port, our sincerest condolences on your sad loss.

The cruise season currently drawing to its conclusion has been one like no other as far as the Fiordland transit has been concerned. We are all used to a little rain in Fiordland from time to time, in fact we are all used to quite a lot of rain fairly frequently in Fiordland, after all it is one of the wettest places on the planet, but the deluge that struck the area in early February was unprecedented. Over a metre of rain, around six week’s worth of ‘normal’ rainfall, fell in less than three days. Widespread flooding and landslides occurred and so much debris was carried down the Cleddau and Arthur Rivers that navigation in Milford Sound became hazardous due to trees, logs and other detritus. So dangerous did it become that the Regional Harbour Master closed Milford Sound to navigation for several days. This effectively closed Fiordland to cruise ships as there was no way for pilots to embark or disembark, except for one enterprising South Port pilot who managed to thumb a lift home from Doubtful Sound.

With the Milford Road closed by slips, when the Sound reopened for navigation tourists who were not fortunate enough to be aboard a cruise ship could only get

FOCUS ON SHIPS

into Milford Sound by air making life difficult for tourist operators there at what is normally their busiest time of year. When it is raining in Fiordland tourists are usually consoled by the thought that ‘the waterfalls will be magnificent’ but this time the Gods rather overdid it. One consequence of Milford being closed to cruise ships was an unscheduled visit to Stewart Island by the Noordam, becoming, we believe, the biggest ship to have called there.

Other than the enforced downtime in Milford it was another busy cruise season with 131 transits scheduled. Most were by companies well established in New Zealand cruising but a notable newcomer was Dream Cruises with the Explorer Dream and Ocean Dream both visiting. This company is part of the Genting group, owner of Norwegian Cruise Line and other brands that have been regular visitors for many years but Dream Cruises caters more to Asian requirements than Gentings other brands. Also back in New Zealand waters was the small Australian cruise ship Coral Discoverer, once a regular visitor under her previous name Oceanic Discoverer.

SOUTH PORT SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS 2020

We would like to congratulate this year’s successful scholarship recipients:

COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP

Tremaine Mako

Tremaine will be a third year Medical Student at University of Otago in 2020 and is working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery. His goal is to become a Doctor and owning his own practice providing a holistic styled approach to treating and supporting patients in Aotearoa through their everyday lives.

Tremaine is an extremely active sportsperson both participating and coaching in sports including rugby, basketball, swimming, sailing, volleyball, boxing and athletics. Culture plays an important role in Tremaine’s life, on many occasions mentoring Maori students in High School and at University (peer mentoring and Ka rikarika O tane). He seeks to pass down his knowledge and experience about life and learning in order to benefit and support the younger generation coming through.

During his tenure at Southland Boys’ High School (graduated 2016) he was a Prefect, Deputy Head Boy, Deputy House Captain and Peer Tutor/Mentor which are convincing examples of his leadership ability.

The attributes referred to in his letter of recommendation were that he had a superb work ethic, is industrious, motivated and a serious thinker; modest and self-effacing with impeccable manners, conducts himself well and is trustworthy, reliable and honest. Tremaine is already modelling the traits to support him in his future career.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD!

Maybe not Hollywood, but Universal Studios, Bluff - for a day anyway! Every year the Port gets a number of requests for filming and photography onsite as it is such a dynamic workplace to be involved with and this one was no different.

In late November a well-respected vehicle manufacturer engaged a Queenstown based film producer to identify and photograph in a number of locations in the South Island that would demonstrate how their brand would handle the rugged conditions of New Zealand. Even though the photography was completed in summer, the inclement conditions are exactly what the doctor ordered!

Editor; Note the vehicle in the photo pictured was not the brand engaged, it was acting as a stand in as the material is still to be produced and released into the public domain.

STAFF SCHOLARSHIP

Corbyn Williamson

Corbyn graduated from Southland Boys’ High School in 2019 and will be commencing training as an Apprentice Electrician with the Electrical Training Company (ETCO) working towards a New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Engineering. Corbyn is looking forward to being hosted by Bluff Electrical so we will see him accompany them at the Port over the duration of his apprenticeship. Corbyn is the son of South Port Executive Assistant, Kirsten Hoyle.

Corbyn is a dedicated sportsperson and fitness is a key part of his life regularly attending the gym and cross-fit classes. He is a member of the Oreti Surf Life Saving Club as a trained lifeguard on rostered patrols at Oreti Beach. Youth sport is another passion with Corbyn involving himself with touch rugby, miniball, Bluff Swim Club and Oreti Surf Life Saving coaching. Corbyn’s sporting and cultural participation was evident at school being Deputy House Captain in 2019 and recently completing a sports coaching programme. He was an active member of the SBHS ‘Tuakana Teina’ (Big Brother) programme which further highlights his level of integrity.

In his letter of recommendation Corbyn was described as ambitious, independent, sensible, down to earth and of good character and commitment. These will be great assets as he sets out on the next chapter of his life journey.

We wish both Corbyn and Tremaine all the best for their academic success.

SOUTH PORT’S PEOPLE

Nicolette

Bottger

Nicolette has been appointed as the Management Accountant and has joined the Finance Team. Nicky was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa and holds a Bachelor of Commerce - Financial Management from the University of South Africa. Her most recent role was as a Financial Manager with SS Telecoms South Africa, which provides telephony products and solutions in South Africa and the Sub-Saharan region.

Karl Frahm

Karl has been employed as a Marine Operator. Collectively the group or Marine Operators he is joining are responsible for co-ordinating lines calling operations, berth preparation, providing fresh water, garbage and other shore-based services, supporting syncrolift operations and providing back up for the tug crew.

James Jay

James has been employed as a Dairy Warehousing Operator. James has work experience across a range of industries. His early career was with the Southland Times as a pre-press technician; he has also worked as a storeman for Harvey Norman and as a freezing worker for the Alliance Group. James is a “Bluffy”, he and his wife Sue are looking forward

Lara initially came on board for a fixed term until the end of the 2019-2020 season in the Dairy Warehousing area. She has now been appointed in a permanent position. As a qualified accountant, Lara will also be able to support key monthly accounting functions, including invoicing and reporting. All of this will help her gain experience and develop her skills within the business.

Outside of work, Lara is interested in sports (she is the holder of a black belt in karate), reading, music, running and enjoying quality time with her family and friends.

Nicky is keen to get the family - husband Gary, an illustrator, animator and caricature artist, and children Luke, 11 and Abigail, 9 – settled and to make new friends in the deep south! Nicky likes all kinds of sports and has been impressed by our sports facilities such as Stadium Southland. As a family, they enjoy the outdoors and are looking forward to exploring the walking tracks around Bluff.

Karl lives in Bluff and is looking forward to working closer to home. He and his wife Roxanne have a son Luka, 11 and daughter Ngaio, 8. His interests include bush walks and cycle touring as a family. He is also a Volunteer Ambulance Officer at Bluff and holds a Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Certificate, which is a St John Ambulance Level 3 First Aid qualification.

to him being back home after four years commuting to Christchurch and Auckland for work.

James loves watching sports, with rugby and cricket being favourites. He enjoys diving and fishing, and whilst living in Christchurch he learned to surf at Brighton Beach.

Boysie Karetai

Boysie will be well-known to many of our staff, having worked in the Cold Stores for five years before a brief stint off port in 2017. Boysie is re-joining the Dairy Warehousing team as a permanent operator after working for the past year as a fixed termer assisting with our dairy import operations. During that time, Boysie has approached his work with a renewed enthusiasm and energy and the rest of the team are pleased to have him back on board.

John Dobbie

John has been with South Port since the 2016-2017 season in a fixed term position where he started on the night shift at Foreshore Road. Now permanent, he has been a great asset to the South Port Cold Storage team. During the season he is a leading hand (night) and a great role model/support to those working on our night shift.

40 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG!

Blair Cousins

A lot of things have changed over the past 40 years, but there is one person who has remained incredibly loyal to the Port’s operations – that is Docking Master, Blair Cousins.

Last year Blair chalked up the impressive milestone of 40 years’ service at the Port; after some gentle encouragement to have his photograph taken and provide a few words, the Portsider sat down with Blair to speak about his tenure at the Island Harbour.

As you could expect, the memories of the early days are a bit vague but Blair vividly recalls the process of getting the job and the number of kilometres he drove to secure his first Harbour Board position of ‘draughting and supervision’. At the time he was living in Nelson and visited Bluff for a family holiday and noticed a job at the Port. He applied, drove back to Nelson at the completion of the holiday and before the car engine had time to cool down was heading back to Bluff in the same car for an interview before being offered the job.

Upon arriving, stage 2 of the Island Harbour development was underway. This kept five of the team in Blair’s area busy in the early 80’s working through this significant

Elgreene Leviste

Elgreene has worked as part of the Port’s Cold Storage team since last season and has proven himself a safe pair of hands. His primary role is to work on the day shift and also assist with night shift start-up as necessary at the peak of the season. Greene is also supporting our new fixed term and casual operators through their induction and on-job training.

project. He then transferred into a Port Services Engineer position where he was responsible for the supervision of contractors completing capital works, maintenance and repairs. After a number of years in this position he recently transferred to the Syncrolift operation where he is now the Docking Master.

When asked who some of the more positive influencers were on his career he was quick to acknowledge his former Managers, Russell Slaughter and Bruce Hancock. “Brent (Dimond) and Glen (Hourston) also have been extremely helpful when we were working on asphalt repairs in the container terminal”.

Thank you Blair for your service; we look forward to celebrating the half century with you in less than ten years’ time!

Raa Sikisini - Kicking the Habit

South Port recently invited staff who smoked and wanted to quit the habit an opportunity to participate in a 12 week stop smoking programme facilitated by Nga Kete. Cold Store Leading Hand, Raa Sikisini was happy to share his journey with the Portsider.

“I started smoking when I first heard I was going to be a young father. I was 14 years old and it really freaked me out. I started smoking one or two cigarettes a day which grew into a packet a day pretty quickly. After the birth of my most recent child I stayed home on parental leave and managed to quit smoking for the health of my child. I stayed smoke-free for five months but when my parental leave period was nearly up, I started to feel anxious knowing I was required to return to work and be away from my child. I bought a packet of smokes to have one or two to settle my nerves but after being back at

work, my stress levels rose, and I slowly got back into my bad habit of joining the boys for a smoke break.

I kept trying to give up but could never quite kick the habit. When I heard South Port had contacted Nga Kete regarding the cessation programme and was asking for participants, I put my hand up as I wanted to join a group, who like me would have struggles and could share our stories and support each other.

I went to my first session and there were four of us in total; we all had different stories and reasons for cutting back or giving up. By week 5 I was the only one left. Two were vaping so didn’t need further help and one participant realised it wasn’t the right time for him. Through the support of South Port together with Barbara and Jo from Nga Kete, I was able to stay on track, I used gum as my only source of nicotine to reduce my cravings

SPORTING MOMENTS

Mayall Cup

“Finally” was the word that exited the mouths of the 2020 Mayall Cup winners held at the Bluff Golf Course this year.

In what could only be described as “challenging” conditions, scorecards looked more like a cricket score book, a select few managed to navigate their way around the course producing some spectacular scores.

Fittingly it was a maiden victory for regular player Justin Dimond and his partner

Cricket

Marvin Ihaia who were representing Bain Shipping. Speaking to the Portsider after receiving the trophy Justin said, “After so many years taking part and a number of seconds and thirds it is great to finally have our names engraved on the Mayall Cup”.

Regular South Port bridesmaids Gareth Carson and Scott Faithfull finished an impressive second with Sherman Weatherall and Kerry Hodges representing Agility Logistics, Dunedin clocking in third.

The fourth annual cricket match between South Port and EIS took place at the home of Southland Cricket in late February.

On a beautiful sunny day South Port Captain, Hayden Mikkelsen lost the toss and was asked to field. The bowling effort got off to a great start having EIS reeling early, however a number of big middle innings partnerships (and some wayward bowling) allowed the automation and electrical specialists to post an imposing score of 144. Both Scott Faithfull and Paul James could hold their head high with impressive bowling stats going for 5 and 4 runs per over respectively from their two over allocation.

With a target of 145 needed for victory, a steady start with the loss of no wickets was what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately,

and after 12 weeks received congratulatory vouchers for remaining smokefree. Now that I have completed the 12-week programme, I can contact Nga Kete for support or if I need more product. My longterm goal is to remain smokefree and have a healthier lifestyle and more money in my pocket for my family.” (Article supplied by Raa Sikisini).

On behalf of the Portsider and the wider South Port team well done Raa for kicking the habit and becoming smokefree.

this was not the case and at 3/30 it required the experienced hands of Houston Te Tai (30 runs retired) and Jamie May (30 runs retired) to steady the ship and get the Port in a position to win.

Upon their retirements it was Nigel Gear and Rochelle Van Beek (playing her first game) who successfully navigated the team to the winning total.

The victory now levels the 4-match series at 2-a-piece - Bring on 2021!

SALEN SHIP MANAGEMENT AND SALENREDERIERNA

For several cruise seasons past Bluff has played host to the luxurious little ‘adventure’ type cruise ship Caledonian Sky. She is owned by Noble Caledonia, a British travel agency established in 1991 and specialising in small ship cruising to remote areas of the world. From its inception Noble Caledonia employed Katarina Salen who left in 1999 to form her own travel company, before completing the circle in 2006 by purchasing Noble Caledonia. Under her tutelage the company acquired three small cruise ships, the Island Sky in 2010, Caledonian Sky in 2011 and Hebridean Sky in 2016. The three were very similar having been built for the top end of the ‘adventure’ cruise ship market. To operate this small fleet Salen Ship Management was established in 2010 reviving the name and funnel colours of Salenrederierna, established by Katarina’s grandfather, Sven Salen, nearly a century earlier.

Sven Salen was born on 7 November 1890 in Boras, Southern Sweden, some 40 miles from Gothenburg. Having observed the high freight rates prevailing during the First World War he resolved to become a shipowner and in 1915 bought the coaster Robur. At just 200 tons it was a small enough beginning for what was to become Sweden’s largest shipping company. A similar coaster was the next purchase followed by two full-rigged sailing ships and a few smaller sailing vessels, but that was to be the limit of Sven Salen’s involvement with commercial sail. He did however retain an interest in recreational sailing and represented Sweden

at the 1936 and 1954 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 1936.

Salen was particularly noted for its refrigerated ships and fruit carriers, a trade in which it became involved through the purchase of six small fruit ships which were used to tranship bananas from major European ports to Scandinavia. In 1937 a cargo service between Scandinavia and the Pacific North-West was begun and upon the outbreak of the Second World War the Salen fleet comprised seven ships.

Postwar the Salen fleet expanded and diversified. In 1951 a major new venture for the company began with the delivery of the Dagmar Salen, an oil tanker and the first of many. Notable among them was the Carlshamn, not because the ship herself was significant but because she was the first ship to carry the blue and white Salen funnel seen in the accompanying photographs, the funnel having previously been yellow with a green band. In the new design the lines above and below the Salen ‘S’ represented the bananas that had been the basis of the company’s early prosperity.

Refrigerated ships and tankers dominated the expanding Salen fleet although dry cargo was also catered for with a fleet of bulk carriers. In fact it was one of the bulk

carriers, the Baltic Wasa, that first brought the Salen colours to Bluff when she called here in 1975. Otherwise it was the reefers that represented Salen in Bluff, notably the ‘Snow’ class, considered to be among the finest reefers afloat.

Salen became Sweden’s largest shipping company in 1968, the year before Sven Salen died. He must have left content with the development of the company he had founded 54 years earlier, but it was not to last. When the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased the price of crude oil by 70% in 1973 the effect on tanker owners was catastrophic. A huge reduction in oil consumption made half the world’s tanker fleet redundant but despite this dire backdrop Salen’s directors ordered seven Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC’s) of 360,000 tonnes. All went straight into layup. Sven Salen’s sons Sven Hampus Salen and Christer Salen were now running the company which was renamed Salinvest. Virtually the entire fleet was sold to try and stave off the inevitable but to no avail and in December 1984 Salinvest filed for bankruptcy. The few remaining ships were sold and the once vast Salen fleet was gone.

This was not the end of the family’s shipping interests however. Among his many business interests Christer Salen was in a partnership that had built the adventure type cruise ship Frontier Spirit in 1990, one of her first ports of call being Bluff where she is still a regular visitor under her present name of Bremen. Then along came Christer’s daughter Katarina and the Salen colours were seen again in Bluff. Long may it be so.