Tauranga, NZL stevedore dispute goes to High Court

The move has brought to a head a contentious issue which has been portrayed as a new front in the battle between Ports of Auckland, which has said it would be a major customer of the NZL initiative, and a bid by Tauranga to protect its C3 stevedoring joint venture with Asciano.

NZL has lodged a claim to re-establish marshalling operations at Sulphur Point, a move Tauranga claims had heralded an "unexpected withdrawal by NZL from negotiations to renew a service contract agreement" with Tauranga, which they had been operating under for the past five years.

NZL has denied this version of events.

"Port of Tauranga has never been uncooperative in trying to resolve the dispute and has responsibly sought a number of legal opinions on the contractual interpretation," chief executive Mark Cairns said. 

"We are disappointed to have had to initiate proceedings, but as a listed company, we cannot allow this important matter to remain unresolved, nor allow NZL to continue trying to litigate this issue through the media."