Port of Auckland (New Zealand), In-Water Niche Area Hull Cleaning Prototype

Port of Auckland, New Zealand's largest import port (Port of Auckland, n.d.), operates under New Zealand's biosecurity rules for vessel biofouling. New Zealand's Craft Risk Management Standard for Biofouling on Vessels Arriving to New Zealand (CRMS BIOFOUL), effective from 15 May 2018, required vessels arriving in New Zealand to have a clean hull. Since 13 October 2023 it has been replaced by the Craft Risk Management Standard: Vessels, which lets vessels meet the clean hull rule through continual maintenance, cleaning within 30 days before arrival, haul-out cleaning at an MPI-approved facility within 24 hours of arrival, or an MPI-approved treatment on arrival. It bans removal of biofouling from international vessels in New Zealand waters except at an MPI-approved haul-out facility or through an MPI-approved treatment (Ministry for Primary Industries, 2023).

In September 2025 the port announced that it was in the final stages of developing an in-port solution, with New Zealand Diving and Salvage Limited (NZDS), to clean niche areas of ships while they continue normal passenger or freight operations. Details were withheld while the partners sought intellectual property protection and approval as a biosecurity treatment. Once approved, the prototype could be used for spot cleaning (Port of Auckland, 2025).

This example concerns cleaning of vessels, not maintenance of port-owned submerged structures. The sources reviewed do not confirm whether the service has since been approved and is operating, or how removed material is captured.