Marine Industry Project

Considerable growth is forecast for Auckland’s renowned marine industry and the marine project aims to provide the infrastructure to enable this development.

Based in Hobsonville in Auckland’s Northwest, a new 20 hectare marine industrial precinct is set to provide comprehensive and essential marine infrastructure for the transport, launching, berthing superyachts and other craft. Businesses from across the marine industry will be located at the precinct. Initial infrastructure is expected to be in place by 2009.

Infrastructure of this type is essential if the New Zealand industry is to capture a greater share of a growing global market. It will provide a critical incentive for superyacht builders to participate in the cluster, especially considering that the capital and operating costs of this type of infrastructure is beyond the limits of any one boat builder.

The new precinct will complement the established marine quarter at Viaduct Harbour, which has a focus on sea trials, sales, service, refit and maintenance, and will provide the space and facilities needed to build and launch very large boats. It will provide companies with shared facilities for safer and more efficient builds, manoeuvring and launching.

In September 2007, the government announced it would contribute $2million to the precinct. The money will come from the government’s major regional initiative fund and will help purchase equipment that will allow large boats to be transported into the water.

With large New Zealand superyachts now generating as much as $50million each, Hobsonville is likely to bring about a significant change in Auckland’s and New Zealand’s export receipts. There are also the widespread benefits of the vast value chain associated with this development - from innovative design and materials to high technology equipment, luxurious furnishings, skilled labour - so many of our companies and our communities around the Auckland region will benefit from the Hobsonville development.

The Hobsonville Marine Precinct development fits with the objectives of Auckland’s Metro Project Action Plan, in particular the workstream dedicated to boosting Auckland’s business innovation and export strength to create more success stories like the marine industry. The challenge, which AucklandPlus and others have taken up, is to develop a co-ordinated regional approach to nurturing innovation that will pave the way for many more success stories in high end, high technology exports and play a major role in transforming the Auckland regional economy.