Building materials company Holcim says its coastal shipping operations and related local seafaring jobs are at risk after Associate Transport Minister James Meager rejected an application allowing a foreign-flagged vessel to carry cement around New Zealand during a planned fleet replacement.
The company had arranged a three-year charter with Swiss outfit NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers but now claims it must switch to costly large-scale road transport, involving 500 additional truckloads a month, because no suitable New Zealand vessels are available.
Meager told state-funded media the bid failed to meet maritime law requirements designed to protect domestic shipping and that authorisations for foreign vessels are intended only for short, exceptional situations.
Holcim argues the decision undermines, rather than protects, local coastal capacity and warns its investment in road freight may make a future return to shipping unviable. The minister has encouraged the company to work with officials on alternative transport options.
Just imagine the ferry fiasco times (x’s) ten-fold…
This is being done DELIBERATELY to jack the price of the dog kennels being built to comply with Agenda 2030’s ‘:15 Minute Cities’ that are nothing less than a digital ID prison!
Now in the summer, when concrete works get underway due to warmer temperatures.
NZ leased a couple of ferries from other nations, so this does NOT make sense unless it’s to deliberately stifle infrastructure growth & economics!
Does feel like NZ is being sabotaged by these clowns.
Bunch of no hopers, roll on 2026 election.
Really ? What does an election achieve ? Government always get in.
Imagine.
Just imagine.
ALL of us voting against that bunch.
What is the problem with Nova Algoma Cement Carriers?
No backhander?
Couldn’t have come at a better time
To exasperate the problem with LTNZ recently revoking near 500 immigrants to NZ heavy vehicle licenses mostly by held by Indians
Typical ineptitude displayed through the actions of the morons running this country and the bad decisions that have landed Us in the dire situation we now find ourselves in
There’s too many trucks on the road as it is, clogging and slowing up the traffic
There is too many attention-deficit-brain-dead on the road, and that’s not being sexist, ay?
Holcim had years to prepare for this. To procure a vessel etc. They want to import 3rd world labour that do not pay Tax, ACC etc etc.
BTW I was at sea and was a ship’s Master under the NZ Flag.
That sounds about right! Should be chartering a bare boat and putting a NZ crew on board.
I assume the Swiss don’t dock their boats in Switzerland.
What this Swiss Company wants to do is put local seafarers out of work by retiring vessels such as the Buffalo and using large overseas vessels crewed with cheap foreign crew. The government is actually trying to stick up for our New Zealand seafarers and our jobs.
Pull the other one mate. Since when did the government ever do that? NZ is well known as a dumping ground for cheap imported labour, that displaces locals. Just look at the number of people out of work. As for saving jobs, if you read the article, they tell you clearly Kiwi’s stand to loose their jobs because of this nonsense.