It’s been a successful year for Auckland Council-owned company Ports of Auckland.
While container volumes have fallen, the port has improved productivity and kept costs under control, delivering an even bigger return to Aucklanders.
Improved dividend
This year the port will pay a dividend of $54.3 million, up from $41.7 million last year.
That adds up to $103 per Auckland household, or 4.4 per cent of the average residential rates bill. In the last five years the port has paid $212.2 million to our city, which has been used for the benefit of ratepayers.
Positive work environment
This success is down to the people who work at the port and a positive work environment has been key to the business’s high performance.
This year Ports of Auckland was recognised with two awards: “Excellence in People & Culture Creation” at the 2016 Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) Excellence Awards and “Gender Diversity in Leadership” at the Women in Governance Awards.
Safety a priority
Keeping people safe at work is the company’s top priority.
In recent years the port has been working to build a more collaborative safety culture and this has had good results. Injury rates have fallen steadily, with only four lost time injuries this year, a decrease of 67 per cent on the previous year.
Sustainability initiatives
The port is an important economic engine for our city, but it needs to operate sustainably and care for our environment.
Ports of Auckland has led a successful initiative to protect our local Bryde’s whales, which are vulnerable to being hit by ships. Slower speed was the answer, and as a result of the work done by Ports of Auckland and the shipping industry, ship speeds in the Hauraki Gulf are down by a quarter.
