March 2023
March 1, 2023
A dawn blessing for Manahau
Early Monday morning, members of Taranaki Whānui led a dawn karakia and naming ceremony at Seaview Wharf, for Brian Perry Civil's (BPC's) new barge.
Kaumatua Kura Moeahu led the karakia, assisted by Alishia Moeahu and rōpu.
Kura explained that the karakia called on the elements to protect the barges, and the people working on them, and called for peace. During the ceremony the new barge was named 'Manahau' and a blessing was also laid on the barges 'Tuapapa' and 'Kaupapa'.
The name Manahau was selected from over 50 submissions from BPC's team and was chosen because it brings a Mauri (life force or essence) of joyfulness, resilience, and strength to the barge fleet - the mana of the past, present, and future.
At the kaikorero, CentrePort General Manager, Ferries and Bulk Andrew Steele, spoke of how important the blessing was in the context of Seaview's importance to the country, thanking BPC and other suppliers for the positive working relationship, and thanking mana whenua for providing the blessing ceremony.
The arrival of Manahau is already creating huge benefit for resilience work happening at Seaview wharf - one of New Zealand's most important energy assets cared for by CentrePort. Manahau has a deck capacity of 400t and can lock together with Tuapapa to create a floating platform totalling 60x20m, providing BPC with one of the biggest floating barge capacities in New Zealand.