What happened next was a big surprise.
The port contacted senior management at Otago Polytechnic to say it would donate the gear — four massive diesel engines and a Clark 55 loader.
"We’re pretty stoked with that," Mr Roderique said.
"It’s actually going to save us a lot of money and also gives us huge investment in our training resources here."
He said the donated goods would easily have cost $60,000.
The engines and loader would be used to help teach skills such as diesel component diagnoses, repairing transmissions, axles, hydraulics and more.
"[It] enables us to do a lot more so we don’t have to hire something or buy in components.
"We’ve got a complete working unit."
The gear will be inspected by staff before it is used in teaching in next year’s courses.
Bradley Benington is an Otago Polytechnic student finishing a one-year automotive course and said the equipment would be a great benefit.
"This here [the Clark 55 loader] will be quite good because a lot of the main structure of things will stay the same.
"It’s just there’s a lot more electronics in the new things. The main body of everything is the same. You can’t change a brake drum to anything else."
"The way that the polytech do their work, it’s all very relevant."
