Over the past few weeks, the port has recorded an unprecedented influx of first-time visitors calling to exchange containers, handle forestry exports or discharge bulk cargo at the fertiliser berth.
The container ships were Cap Mondego, Sky Jupiter, Maersk's Bratan and Dunbar.
And as far as new names go, one could add previous calls by the latter vessel's sister ship Maersk Duncan which started calling as the renamed Bunga Raya Dua Belas.
Those making first calls to Port Chalmers in connection with forestry products were the woodchip carrier New Oji Pioneer and the log ships, Falcon, TPC Lyttelton and Xuchanghai.
At Dunedin, Cathrin Oldendorff loaded part of its cargo before moving down to Port Chalmers to complete loading before departing for Inchon.
And Chang An berthed at Dunedin last Friday to load logs.
Bulk cargoes for the phosphate works at Ravensbourne saw Birch 4, New Legend Pearl and Tenor calling here for the first time.
Later this week, newcomer Jin Hyang will berth at Dunedin to load another ex-Ravensbourne shipment of phosphate, this time for for Newcastle, New South Wales.
However, what attracts my attention is that of these 14 newcomers, seven were built in China, the oldest being the 1997-built Xuchanghai.
Of the others, Cap Mondego entered service in 2008, Chang An last year and Jin Hyang, New Legend Pearl, Tenor and TPC Lyttelton all this year.
In recent years, most of the visits by container ships have been from vessels built in South Korea, currently the world's leading shipbuilding nation.
But China is focusing on gaining the top spot within the next five years.
So it is interesting to note that TPC Lyttelton and Jin Hyang were both built in China for operation by South Korean interests.
The latter vessel, registered at Jeju (Cheju), was delivered to the KDP Capital Corp of Seoul, a company managed by the Kingways Shipping Co, on March 12.
It is a 14.2-knot, 20,141gt, 32,550dwt vessel built at Taizhou by the Zhejiang Hongxin Shipbuilding Co.
Chang An, owned by Treasure Shipping Ltd of Shanghai, but registered at Panama, is a 13.7-knot, 20,748gt, 31,800dwt vessel.
Built by the Taizhou Changxin shipyard at Linhai, it entered service on August 15, 2009, as Chang An 2, but the numeral was dropped from the name four months later.
Also registered at Panama and the youngest of the Chinese-built newcomers, New Legend Pearl was completed as recently as July 26.
It is another 13.7-knot vessel of 20,809gt and 32,688dwt built by the Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering Co at Guangdong.
Managed by Tianjin Xinhai International, the ship's owner is given as the Tianjin Zhongyuda Logistics Co.
The 19,883gt, 31,350dwt, Liberian-flag Cathrin Oldendorff, registered to the ownership of the Bandwidth Shipping Corporation, is another visitor that represented Egon Oldendorff's Oldendorff Carriers GmbH of Lubeck.
This vessel was built at Saiki by Saiki Heavy Industries, which handed it over on January 8, 2003.
Sister ship Lucas Oldendorff was here for logs in March, while Eduard Oldendorff , sold out of the fleet earlier this year, turned up at Ravensbourne in August as Aeolos.
Adding to this busy period, yesterday's movements involved two vessels on return visits with the departure of Cook Strait from the fertiliser berth and Clipper Imabari back at Beach St for logs.
