Freight and storage

South Port provides Southland’s largest storage facility, servicing a range of industries and goods.

Storage can be provided to meet temporary requirements or can be leased on a more permanent basis to provide a base for company operations.

Storage at South Port

The 40-hectare man-made Island Harbour is used for the handling, storage and shipment of cargo.

Cold storage

All stores are open pallet storage for frozen products. No. 2 stores can be utilised as a cool store.

The following provides an overview of the facilities available and their specifications:

Dry warehousing

Eleven cargo sheds are available, as detailed below. All have good road access and are in close proximity to the wharf aprons they serve.

They are all of steel portal construction with partial concrete walls and partial walls and roof of aluminium sheeting.

Intermodal Freight Centre

South Port’s Intermodal Freight Centre has been operational since July 2016.


Strategically located adjacent to the KiwiRail container transfer yard in Invercargill, the South Port Intermodal Freight Centre facilitates the competitive movement of cargo via rail and road - creating more efficient access of containers in the Southland and Otago regions.


For more information:

Alastair McKerchar
Intermodal Freight Centre Supervisor

Phone: 03 212 6046
Email: amckerchar@southport.co.nz

Project Cargo

South Port has had a wealth of experience handling project cargo for the southern region. In the recent past we have handled:

  • Transformer weighing 122 tonnes (twin crane lift)
  • Wind farm material including twin crane lifts and a maximum lift of 80 metric tonnes
  • Manapouri hydroelectric power station tailrace equipment
  • Mining equipment including bucket wheel excavators and dump trucks
  • Tanks for tallow storage
  • A variety of machinery including pleasure and fishing vessels

There are some weight restrictions placed on the wharves and roads contained on the Island Harbour. Please visit the port infrastructure page for details.

The access bridge from Bluff to the Island Harbour has the capacity to handle similar weights to that of all other bridges located on the state-owned highways. (The greatest weight recently transported was 122 metric tonne transformers being carried across the bridge.)

Also utilised on the port are two Liebherr Harbour Mobile Cranes (LHM 400 & LHM 550) with a maximum lifting capacity of 100 metric tonnes each (minimum outreach 10.5 metres - maximum outreach 43 metres at reduced capacity) and a variety of forklifts with lifting capacities ranging between 52 metric tonnes and 3 metric tonnes.

Heavy and over-dimensional load movements require a thorough risk assessment and approval of the Traffic Management Plan by the South Port Infrastructure Department. Controls for crossing the bridge may include preventing other vehicles or trains from being on the bridge simultaneously. Additional measures, such as removing the gatehouse, may be required.

Further information: For a project cargo enquiry or quote (including heavy or over-dimensional loads), please contact: 


Commercial Manager: + 64 3 212 6003