Cyclone Gabrielle: Transport and logistics delays

16 February 2023

Update Medicines

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Medicine transport and logistics throughout Aotearoa New Zealand are facing delays.

Freight carriers

Flights and carriers have announced widespread delays caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. A national state of emergency has been declared. It may take time for normal services to resume. Please be patient, people running these networks are facing challenges both at work and at home.

Civil Defence website(external link)

Ports of Auckland

Ports of Auckland reopened at 0700 Wednesday 15 February. Delays are expected. There is a backlog of ships in the harbour which is affecting some shipments.

Ports of Auckland's Twitter feed for updates(external link)

Auckland Airport

Flights have resumed but airline schedules are disrupted. There are still on-going widespread delays to flights and carrier routes.

Auckland Airport Twitter feed for updates(external link)

Roading network

Roads are closed around the North Island, especially in the east of the North Island.

Waka Kotahi Traffic Map(external link)

Ferries

Interisland ferries have resumed services. Both Bluebridge and Interislander are running reduced services due to technical issues. This may effect resupply, especially in the South Island.

Bluebridge Ferry updates(external link)

Interislander Ferry updates(external link)

Supplier and logistics provider updates

Baxter Healthcare (15 Feb 23)

Baxter warehouse

Baxter advises that their warehouse is completing scheduled orders that came in on Monday 13 February after 2 pm. There is currently no damage to their building or stock. Staffing levels and communications are being affected by the cyclone.

Home patient impact

Baxter advises that there will be a significant patient impact over the next few days and into next week as the cyclone passes and clean-up begins. The Baxter Customer Service team is in contact with all home patients that may have their scheduled deliveries affected. For South Island people, there is a 48-72 hour delay as the ferry/flight backlog is cleared. For people in areas that are currently inaccessible, Baxter cannot understand the true impact until roads are inspected and slips are cleared.

Hospital/wholesaler customer deliveries

Baxter has put their contingency plan in place and are working closely with customers and service providers to ensure services and deliveries. However, they expect delays of 48-72 hours for orders placed from Tuesday 14 February. If you have an urgent order that is required sooner than 72hrs please contact their Customer Service team.

DHL are cautioning against sending perishable items into the network. As such, Baxter is suspending the dispatch of Tisseel and Artiss products for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Healthcare Logistics Ltd (14 Feb 23)

Aucklanders have been advised not to travel on the roading network, which has reduced the number of people working in the HCL warehouse.

No coldchain will be despatched again Tuesday 14 February. This has been flagged to customers on the HCL vaccine website.
Ambient deliveries are also likely to be delayed due carrier closures and anticipated road closures.

Healthcare Logistics is one of the private companies that provides logistics support for medicine supplies in Aotearoa New Zealand.