Re the port of Westport, Bathursts intentention was to tranship...

Re the port of Westport, Bathursts intentention was to tranship coal to another port by a specifically designed vessel which was barge like, ie wide beam and shallow draft to work the Westport bar .The design of the vessel was well advanced until the coal prices slumped and Bathurst virtually shut up shop in Westport until the opportunity to purchase Solid came along.
The shed is and always will be an assest.............for when it comes to bargaining time with new contracts with Kiwirail.
Historically for the uninformed, Solid went and got resource consent to build an export jetty North of Westport , Kiwirail negotiated a fair price with that threat hanging in the air.
SolidEnergys next trick was to commision the design of a vessel to work Westport , this vessel was also barge like,once the design was completed it was simulated at Devonport Ship simulator for crossing the bar and entering the port. This vessel was to be used to tranship to another port for export , once again this was used as an argument in rail freight rate negotiations.