Having lived on the shores of the Manukau Harbour all my life, I've taken more than a passing interest in the comings and goings of the numerous ships and fishing vessels which have sailed by over the years, en route to and from the Port of Onehunga. When you look out on these views every day ... "Auckland Express" sweeps past Mangere Mountain at sunrise "Westport" scythes through the vast expanse of the Manukau ... how could you not be attracted to working in the maritime industry? Cue a quarter of a century spent in the employ of Union Shipping (8.5 years) and, after a three year hiatus, Lloyd's Register (16.5 years). Over the years, I've cobbled together all sorts of records, stories and details of ships which have visited Onehunga, and various events which have occurred on the world's eighth largest harbour. Unless otherwise noted, all shipping photos are from my personal collection. Where I have sourced them from elsewhere, said source is duly recorded, with written permission sought and obtained from the photographer concerned when possible. Other information has been gleaned from a host of sources. Much of it is readily available on the internet, if you're prepared to go hunting. I must express sincere thanks to the following for their valued assistance with this project: Captain Ross Sutherland, the former Officer-in-Charge at Onehunga, who was most accommodating and helpful when I made my initial enquiries about writing a book about shipping at the Port of Onehunga thirty-odd years ago! This section of Ultimate is the outcome; Chloe van Diepenbrugge, Pam Bentley, Ed Dunning and the team at Ports of Auckland Ltd; Paul Coleman at Holcim NZ Ltd; Marleene Boyd RIP and Danielle Carter at Voyager NZ Maritime Museum and the Bill Laxon Memorial Library (open to the public on Thursdays, or by appointment on Monday - Wednesday each week); Jim Jackson, Bronwen Turner and Leonie Norton at the Manukau Harbour Restoration Society; The teams at Auckland Central and Manukau Public Libraries; Geoff Churchman at Transpress NZ; Dave MacIntyre and the NZ Shipping Gazette team; Alison Undorf-Lay at Sanford Ltd; Michael Raynes, a mine of knowledge on the Northern Steamship Company Various contributors to the ShipSpotting and NZ Coastal Shipping Forum websites, particularly Chris Howell and Duncan Montgomery; My old workmates at Union Shipping and Lloyd's Register. With the Port of Onehunga having officially been closed to shipping since 30 November 2016, it's been my intention to endeavour to make this tribute site as comprehensive and as definitive a record of shipping at Onehunga as possible, the idea being to gather together, from far and wide, as much information as possible about the Port, in part for the benefit and knowledge of future generations, who in years to come will probably only know this area of the world as a Wynyard Quarter-like arrangement. For nearly 200 years, it's been, to quote part of the late, great Bill Shankly's most famous quote of all, "... much more important than that". Feedback and, if you wish to, further contributions are most welcome - scousekiwi@gmail.com. Meanwhile, enjoy! And of course, feel free to check out the rest of the award-winning www.ultimatenzsoccer.com website. :-) Background:  The editor pictured with "Westport", Nov 2012