Green Port for Black Boats

Big plans are underway in Port Nelson to develop an environmentally sustainable approach to maintaining and servicing New Zealand's work boat fleet. This new initiative, to create a "green" marine precinct inside the port, is being driven by a consortium of companies, including Port Nelson Ltd, Challenge NZ Ltd, Kernohan Engineering Ltd and Unimar Ltd.

It has the enthusiastic support of the Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZT&E) and the Economic Development Agency. In fact, the Green Port Consortium, as it is being called, has been given a grant through the Regional Strategy Fund for a feasibility study on the full scope of the project.

NZT&E Regional Manager, Jo Rainey, said "this is a very exciting proposal and satisfies a long-held personal belief that the Nelson marine engineering sector has a lot more potential than is currently being realised".

Nevil Basalaj, CEO and major shareholder in the Challenge NZ group of companies, explains, "Our intention is to develop an environmentally sustainable port in NZ for building, servicing and refitting commercial and workboat vessels across several industries. We will provide modern facilities, which minimises the carbon footprint and maximises the toxic containment of this very important service industry".

Rachel Reese, Nelson's Deputy Mayor, is very supportive of the proposal, as a City Councillor and from a personal perspective. "This isn't a speculative idea. It's based on solid ground-work, it is strategic and it has the right mix of people and industries that have the right heart and a real commitment to the Nelson region," Ms Reese said.