Nelson ships clear on smoke emissions despite pollution concerns

Container vessel 'Maersk Jalan' billows smoke into the atmosphere at Port Nelson while uploading containers back in May.

Braden Fastier/Fairfax NZ
Container vessel ‘Maersk Jalan’ billows smoke into the atmosphere at Port Nelson while uploading containers back in May.
 As the Government mulls whether to join an international agreement on marine air pollution, Nelson’s shipping authority says it has the issue well-monitored.

Port Nelson harbourmaster David Duncan said the port welcomed more than 800 vessel visits annually.

Duncan said while it had regulations in place to control marine pollution outside of the Resource Management Act, none were specifically targeted at the emissions from ships.

“There is nowhere currently in NZ legislation [that] this captured. However Port Nelson does monitor, and communicates to vessels, where we believe a discharge to air is excessive and expects issues to be remedied.”

Such occurrences were “very infrequent”, and any concerns had been promptly remedied, he said.

At a national level, the port also held regular discussions with the NZ Port Environmental Managers Forum.

Annex VI of the international agreement known as MARPOL covers the prevention of pollution from ships and came into force in 2005. However, New Zealand is not one of the 86 signatory nations.

Victoria University’s Dr Bevan Marten said in March the fact New Zealand was not a signatory, and its lack of action over air pollution from shipping, was “an international embarrassment.”

Marten said air quality monitoring in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington suggested shipping was a key source of sulphur dioxide emissions. The burning of bunker fuel oil was a significant source of nitrogen oxides and fine particulates, which were known to be carcinogenic.

Duncan was reluctant to say whether or not NZ signing onto Annex VI would be a worthwhile undertaking.

“We do not believe it appropriate to comment … as this requires considerable investigation, consultation and operational change within the Transport and Shipping Industry.”

A 2012  report estimated that 95 per cent of harmful emissions in New Zealand were generated by sources such as domestic fires, motor vehicles, industry and open burning.

Ministry of Transport’s Gavin Middleton said work has begun to assess the implications including the costs and benefits of signing up to Annex VI.

“We are in the early stages of planning, but note that advice to government will be informed by a formal engagement process with interested stakeholders.”

According to the Ministry of Transport’s website, in 2011 New Zealand domestic shipping was responsible for producing 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

NZ shipping pollution lawsallowed discharge of contaminants that is “incidental to, or derived from, or generated” during specified operations of a ship, including heat exchange systems

Air discharges from ship exhausts are permitted under the Resource Management Act 1991 and regional plans cannot make rules that restrict these discharges.

 

 – Stuff

Mainfreight boss calls for national transport strategy

The country’s political leaders must up their game and deliver better long-term transport and infrastructure planning, according to the head of the country’s biggest freight company.

Train stuck between in a tunnel between slips.

A train is trapped in a tunnel between landslips after November’s Kaikōura earthquake. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Mainfreight managing director Don Braid said politicians – local and national – have failed to take the initiative to plan adequately for the future.

Mainfreight managing director Don Braid

Don Braid Photo: Supplied

“We have not reacted as a country to the increase in population growth and the tourism numbers, out infrastructure is poorly set up and government and councils are only just coming to grips to what they need to do,” he told RNZ.

Mr Braid said the transport network’s vulnerability was shown by the Kaikōura earthquake’s impact on road and rail links, and it was the revival of coastal shipping that minimised the disruption.

He said an example of the lack of investment in key services was the treatment of KiwiRail in the latest budget, with funding for new engines and other hardware limited to a two-year timeframe.

“We need to be planning 30 years out, and making investments early.

“Around the Cabinet table I think there’s an aversion to want to think about any sort of integrated transport philosophy for both freight and transport … but we need to be thinking more seriously about it.”

The comments come as a delegation of engineers in Beijing said China was the answer to Auckland’s transport problems.

Warren Hills of Babbage Consultants said New Zealand needed to tap into the expertise of the Chinese workforce, if it was to meet the demands of an unprecedented infrastructure building programme.

Has Auckland Transport found the answer to the city’s traffic problems?

Auckland Transport has joined forces with global technology giant Microsoft in a bid to make the gruelling daily commute a walk in the park.

With an estimated 800 new cars on Auckland’s roads every day and growing frustration at traffic jams, AT hopes the new system will allow it make real-time, informed decisions to improve travel for everyone.

The partnership aims for

• One nationwide payment method that can be used to for buses, ferries and trains.

• The same method to pay for bike lockers – a box in which a bike can be placed and locked in – at some bus and train stations.

• Up-to-date information on traffic delays and accidents using data from public transport users, traffic cameras, loops (sensors installed in the road to detect vehicles), counters for bikes on the road network, and realtime tracking of bus, train and ferry positions.

• Tailored information on the AT app which will tell commuters of delays and incidents and suggest alternative routes or travel methods.

AT’s chief technology officer Roger Jones said one of the main goals is to allow customers to make an informed decision about their best choice of transport on a daily basis, through the new AT Mobile app.

“The vision is, if you’re sitting at home in the morning wondering how you should get to work and you’re not sure if it’s going to rain or not or you’re not sure if things are running on time or not, the app will inform you about your best choice of transport… and the expected timeline.

“The real impact is people expect to be able to travel round the city quickly and efficiently and today a lot of people do that by cars. We will replace that over time with other modes of transport that will get them there just as efficiently and just quickly and cheaper.”

 

Jones said otherwise Aucklanders are “going to grind ourselves to a gridlock”.

He gave an example of someone catching a ferry and then a bus to get home at night but, because of bad weather, the ferry is running late.

“Do we hold the bus at the end and wait for the ferry connection or not?” he said.

“Currently that’s not managed so what we want to do is manage that because we will know from our customer database and the data we have, how many passengers we have on the ferry and how many of those passengers are likely to catch the bus.

“So we will be able to make informed decisions about making the bus stay and wait for those passenger ferries.”

The proposed changes are expected to be gradually rolled out over the next two to three years.

Jones said trials were also in progress of a system that would allow people to use one account for all forms of transport, nationwide.

“Ultimately where we want to get to is your transport is seamless, not only in Auckland but around the country, and your payment for that is seamless.”

Microsoft New Zealand’s chief digital advisor Mark Butterworth said AT will make travelling easier by using artificial intelligence based on information such as who the commuter is, where they are trying to go and what is happening on the network.

“One of the features we hope for is we can predict in advance what your journey will be across the modes so you can plan your days better.

“The way [AT] is engaging with customers and trying to make a digital city is certainly right on the edge of all the cities that [Microsoft] see around the world. So, we want to learn from Auckland and this experience in Auckland to help us help other customers,” said Butterworth.

– Herald on Sunday

Western Belfast Bypass progress

The Western Belfast Bypass, a four-lane, 5-kilometre stretch of highway north of the city, was 80 per cent completed, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) said.

“Over 375,000 hours have been worked on this project so far and it is progressing well as this drone footage shows,” Christchurch highways manager Colin Knaggs said.

The $122 million Western Belfast Bypass project is set to be completed in early 2018. NZTA says it is now 80 per cent ...

 The $122 million Western Belfast Bypass project is set to be completed in early 2018. NZTA says it is now 80 per cent complete.
 The newest aerial footage of the $122-million project shows a 2km-long section that was largely out of public view during construction, Knaggs said.

“Aside from some road marking and other minor finishing touches, this section of the project is also close to being finished.”

The Dickeys Rd bridge under construction, as part of the Western Belfast Bypass programme.

 The Dickeys Rd bridge under construction, as part of the Western Belfast Bypass programme.
 Construction crews recently focused on three new bridges – over Groynes Dr, Dickeys Rd and an on-ramp that links Main North Rd and SH1 – which Knaggs said were close to completion.

“Before the project team could start building they had to carry out ground improvement work, constructing around 2400 columns of gravel and stone into the ground to make it denser,” he said.

“This reduces the effects of liquefaction and ensures the bridge embankments remain stable, preventing damage to the bridge structures during an earthquake.”

A further 30 steel-cased concrete piles, up to 20 metres deep, support each structure.

Once completed, in early 2018, NZTA forecast 24000 cars will use the bypass every day.

 – Stuff

A train that runs on virtual rails has been unveiled in China

Image result for Autonomous Rapid Transit (Art)The Autonomous Rapid Transit (Art), which was unveiled in the city of Zhuzhou on 2 June, is around 30 metres long and is fitted with sensors that detect the dimensions of the road. This enables the vehicle to follow routes without the need for metal rails, Feng Jianghua, a chief engineer behind the project, said according to Xinhaunet.net.

Each vehicle can hold up to 307 passengers, and is said to navigate the streets easier than a bus while being more adaptable than a train. It has a top speed of 70kmph.

The technology behind the Art was developed by Chinese railmaker CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive which also designs parts for the country’s high-speed railway.

The firm, which has been working on Art since 2013, hopes to roll out the train in 2018.

Instead of having steel wheels like a train, Art is fitted with rubber wheels attached to a plastic core which are linked to its especially designed guiding technology, The Paper.Cn reported.

Its creators say that Art is significantly cheaper than a metro service, which costs between 400 to 700millon yuan (£46 to £80million) per  km to build. In contrast, Art costs between 15million yuan (£2million).

The virtual train was unveiled as engineers across the world attempt to modernise transport infrastructure.