HM5
A RAPID RESPONSE
MULTI-PURPOSE BARGE
BY KEITH INGRAM
Maintaining a management and
safety presence in the harbour…
The Auckland Harbourmaster's office
comes under the administration of
the Auckland Council and, apart from
maintaining the associated working
relationships, the office has little to
do with the commercial activities or
the Ports of Auckland.
Y
es, I did say ports, as Auckland owns and operates two
o
commercial ports and has done so since 1871. The port
of Auckland is clearly recognized as one of the busiest
shipping ports in New Zealand, it is nestled in the heart
of the sheltered waters of the Waitemata Harbour that spills out
into the clean waters of the Hauraki Gulf.
The city of Auckland is situated on an isthmus formed by the
sheltered estuary of the Waitemata Harbour to the east and the
Manukau Harbour to the west. The distance at the narrowest part
of the isthmus is such that the Pacific waters to the east and the
Tasman Sea to the west are separated by less than one nautical
mile. Both harbours hem greater Auckland and its 1.5 million
18
Professional Skipper September/October 2013
A clean co
nning po
sition
residents, with the Waitemata
having a total area of 77 square miles and a
water frontage of some 197 miles.
Meanwhile, the Manukau boasts a water area of some 152
square miles and a harbour frontage of 240 miles. It has a
somewhat chequered history, being a west coast bar harbour
on which many ships and their crews have died. The greatest
disaster was recorded in 1863 when HMS Orpheus foundered
with the loss of 189 souls.
Today, the Port of Onehunga services the coastal cement
boats, coastal shipping and the local fishing fleet, with limited
other commercial activity. Although the Manukau still maintains
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