Whanganui Port in New Zealand will run a formal procurement process to find a new dredging operator after its previous contract ended in August.
Port chairman Mark Petersen outlined the position in a report submitted to Whanganui District Council’s council-controlled organisations and economic development committee. The port was examining an interim dredging programme. It was also weighing whether to acquire or lease a barge to provide a local dredging solution.
Dredging cost the port NZ$4.62 million ($2.58 million) during 2025/26, a year in which it recorded a deficit of NZ$4.52 million.
"The primary reason for [the deficit] is that project costs, especially around dredging, have been expensed as opposed to capitalised," Petersen told the committee. "You're not creating an asset; you're actually digging a hole."
The port's net assets rose by NZ$9.47 million to NZ$74.94 million. Whanganui District Council, the port's sole shareholder, contributed NZ$14 million in capital during the year.
Dredging work stopped during the whitebait migration season, which ran from September 1 to October 30. Petersen said dredging in August had left enough water for leisure boats. He said access for the coast guard's larger boat was being monitored closely.
"We're running regular surveys to see what the siltation rate is," he said. "We need to keep it clear, and we understand that."
The previous programme was undertaken by Johnson Brothers. The company was contracted to dredge the channel to three metres chart datum after Buller District Council's dredger Kawatiri departed early.
Dredging forms part of the port's Te Pūwaha redevelopment, which remains under independent review.