Blue Highway: a voyage inside the supply chain powering NZ

The Moana Chief coming into Auckland. The ship does a regular service between Northport, Port of Tauranga, Port of Auckland and Lyttelton Port Company. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Oliver Lewis

Mon, 09 Jun 2025

As Moana Chief exited the shipping channel beside Mauao, the volcanic dome standing sentry at the head of Tauranga Harbour, it began to pitch up and down. High in the owner’s apartment, one flight down from the bridge, I woke with a start and fumbled for more Sea Legs pills. As Murphy’s Law would have it, my first time aboard a container ship coincided with a period of unsettled weather that, in the coming days, would see seven-metre waves on the east coast and the cancellation of all Cook Strait ferry crossings.Still, what a g...

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