Port Taranaki's recent announcement that it aspires to becoming the biggest port in New Zealand, eclipsing Auckland and Tauranga, is a bold vision and one that is doubtlessly supported by most Taranaki exporters.

The company plans to spend $25 million this year to deepen the port, allowing it to service the largest container vessels travelling to this part of the world.

Taranaki's plans include a new fast-track trans-Tasman service, with two container ships running continuously between Taranaki and Melbourne. The port is also understood to be talking to Ports of Auckland about launching a coastal shipping run to move containers between New Plymouth and Onehunga to feed the new service.

CBAFF applauds any initiatives that lead to increases in competition and capacity that will ultimately benefit our members and the freight industry as a whole. That support comes, however, with a caution that overcapacity in a small market can be very damaging.

While Taranaki without doubt offers shorter shipping times across the Tasman, that is only half the solution. The key to its plans succeeding lie as much in the port's ability to handle much higher levels of incoming and outgoing freight, and the reliability of road, rail and coastal infastructure to then seamlessly transfer freight around the country.

Traditionally Port Taranaki has handled high volumes of gas and petrochemical industry freight but has hardly been viewed as a major player in terms of container freight.

In the year to June 2005 the port handled the equivalent of about 48,500 standard-sized containers. During the same period Auckland handled more than 662,000, Tauranga over 394,000, Napier 131,731 and Wellington 77,003.

Port Taranaki's owners appear satisfiedthat, in combination with a reborn coastal shipping service, the rail infastructure is in place to hub containers north and south. Questions remain, however, about storage capacity if growth levels envisaged are to become a reality.

Once any major increase in freight levels is achieved these higher volumes will put pressure on existing rail links, leading to - and causing - major delays.

The availability of wagons could also be an issue. Toll would have to be prepared to relocate wagons off the main trunk routes to service New Plymouth.

The global view will also affect Taranaki's ambitions.

Worldwide rationalisation of port use is expected by most industry players following the Maersk Sealand merger with P&O Nedlloyd. The impact of this merger on New Zealand remains unknown, but may see the creation of large hub ports served by either a revitalised coastal shipping industry or an increase in rail freight.

With Auckland and Tauranga obvious contenders for this hub model, and Wellington's central location giving it credentials as well, Taranaki could face an uphill battle to figure in the final analysis.

And from a global persective it's not even beyond possability that any hubbing model could even see the likes of Brisbane being used as a hub for New Zealand.

Whatever happens, rationalisation and increasing competition between New Zealand ports appear inevitable.

We live, as the saying goes, in interesting times.