Forty years ago yesterday, the export log trade from the Beach St berth at Port Chalmers was inaugurated when Kyoto Maru departed for Japan.
As I mentioned recently, more than 300 vessels sailing under a number of national flags have since loaded part or full log cargoes for other foreign destinations.
The trade expanded steadily and by the end of 1977, 98 shipments had been loaded.
But then a downturn in the trade resulted in only 41 consignments being loaded over the next nine years.
The worst years, 1982, 1984 and 1986, each recorded three loadings, while four shipments left in each of the years 1981, 1983 and 1985.
Shipments started to pick up again from 1987.
The largest number of visits to date were 25 in 2000, 22 in 1994 and 21 in each of the years 1992, 1993 and 2001.
Last year, there were 12 visits by log ships and so far this year there have been 11.
The ships that have been involved with the trade were built over the period 1965-2008 and represented many different smaller and larger designs.
They ranged in size from the smallest visitor, 3940gt Takatori Maru, to the largest, the 27,116gt New Fantasy. Many of the vessels called here only once.
The most frequent callers were two Pan Ocean Shipping Company vessels.
The 17,297gt Rainier, which called here on 14 occasions between January 1992 and August 1994, was outdone by the 18 visits by the 15,187gt Sammi Crystal, from January 1994 to November 1997.
But things did not always go to plan for some of the visitors.
The 7100gt, partly-loaded Canis Minor was only 12 months old when it left for Tauranga on August 8, 1976.
Later that day, it returned to port with a machinery problem.
Eleven days later, the vessel shifted to Dunedin where repairs were carried out, before the vessel resumed its voyage on September 11. The 14,580gt Chinese vessel Xing An Ling berthed on March 16, 1989.
It spent three days anchored outside the heads from April 14 and finally departed on April 24.
The ship's prolonged stay in port was due to its substandard cargo gear, which forced the vessel to leave without loading all of its cargo.
The fully-laden Beau Grace, 12,928gt and built in 1979, sailed for Inchon on April 4, 1991. However, the vessel encountered stability problems and spent the next three days anchored off the heads.
It then returned to the log berth and sailed again on April 8, after about 1400 tonnes of deck cargo had been unloaded.
The most recent incident involved the 17,999gt, 1984-built Maritime Friendship.
This vessel arrived on November 18, 2003, to load for Inchon.
It departed on December 1, after being detained in port by rotten stanchions and also the collapse of its No 2 deck crane.
A more tragic misfortune, overseas, involved the 10,875gt, Liberian-flag Pacific Ares, which berthed on January 29, 1974. Later that year, on November 9, the ship collided with the 43,723gt combination lpg-oil tanker Yuyo Maru No 10, off Yokohama.
As a result of the fire that broke out, there was only one survivor from Pacific Are's crew of 29. Although declared a constructive total loss, the vessel was offered for sale "as lies" at Yokohama.
It was then sold to Japanese shipbreakers and arrived at its birthplace, Onomichi, for demolition on August 2, 1975.
But, in turn, it was resold for further trading.
After being rebuilt, it returned here to load logs on October 22, 1977, as the Japanese-flag Pacific Queen.
