A dry dock has been proposed for Shakespeare Bay near Picton.
OPINION: The many benefits that establishing a floating dry dock at Picton’s Shakespeare Bay would bring to our region cannot be overstated.
This is a valuable opportunity for Marlborough to significantly increase its economic resilience, future growth and provide high-quality, well-paid and reliable career options for our people.
Shakespeare Bay is undeniably a highly strategic place for a dry dock to be located. It’s right in the centre of the country, is handy to Cook Strait shipping lanes and has excellent rail, road and air connections.
The former navy frigate HMNZS Canterbury in an Auckland dry dock.
The bay already operates around the clock as part of Port Marlborough’s operations and it is sheltered from Picton and its residents. As the deepest natural berth in New Zealand, minimal or no dredging would be required to operate a dry dock.
According to a research paper prepared by the Shipping Federation in 2015, a new floating dry dock could bring in an estimated $38 million in regional income per year.
This would present a truly significant string to our economic bow.
Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith says a dry dock would bring young workers to Picton.
Concerns have been raised about biosecurity and the environment. The fact is that the water which comes out of the proposed dry dock is as clean, if not cleaner, as when it went in.
The potential for a biosecurity breach is an issue that the Marlborough Sounds is open to on a daily basis. Currently there are no restrictions on pleasure boats and commercial ships coming in and out of the Marlborough Sounds, which means that whatever is on the hulls of those vessels comes in with them.
It is my view that this poses a far greater biosecurity risk than a controlled, self-contained dry dock with water treatment systems in place to capture, treat and dispose of contaminants.
Many of New Zealand’s largest ships that would use the dry dock enter the Marlborough Sounds regularly anyway, including of course the interisland ferries and the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Building dry dock facilities in Picton to service these vessels, rather than sending them to another less suitable port in New Zealand or overseas actually brings better environmental outcomes as well as saving costs which would have been passed on to the consumer.
As I said, the opportunities this dry dock would bring to our region are huge. Picton itself has struggled to retain young people since the loss of the freezing works many years ago. Bringing a major employer to town would draw in, and retain, young people and naturally create positive flow-on effects for surrounding businesses.
Our region really does tick all the boxes as the obvious location for a new dry dock in New Zealand, and it is an opportunity Marlborough should absolutely embrace.