The Dry Dock is reaching milestones in its large program of works that cover safe and sustainable upgrades aimed at futureproofing the facilities.

This month will see the completion of the amenities building for crew while their vessels are in the dock.

The project was started in October, and the completion was commemorated with a traditional blessing, which included karakia and waiata, sung by our Waiata Group.

The teams are also nearing completion of the electrical program of works which includes upgrading the lighting system to new directional posts.

The new lights are LED which are more sustainable than the previous halogen ones, as well as being directional, meaning they will have little impact on the surrounding community.

The electrical upgrade is much needed, as when the dry dock opened, it was run on steam, and while it has since been converted to electricity, it lacked safe and sufficient modern systems.

The sluice gate has also recently been replaced, which saw an instant improvement in water management around the dock.

It has drastically reduced the amount of water that leaks in, as well as providing greater control of the flow of water when reflooding the dock.

While these are all major improvements on a heritage site, there is still work to go.

In future, the team will be looking at safety improvements around dock access and further fall protection after the installation of edge protection last year.