Last week, while the log ships East Ambition and Mount Rainier were here on their first visits, the tanker Challenge Pioneer was back for the third time.
The three ships, built in 2000, 2005 and 2007 respectively, represent Japan's shipbuilding industry whose products have dominated movements in this harbour since January, 1953.
In fact, with the exclusion of smaller vessels linked to the fishing industry, 1025 individual hulls, some under more than one name, have made more than 3600 local visits since then.
Some, like general cargo ships, fully refrigerated vessels and tankers, are types that have been around for a number of years.
Others like bulk or bulk/lumber designs, vehicle and woodchip carriers, Ro/Ro vessels such as Union Dunedin, container ships, lpg carriers and modern cruise ships are all late 20th century innovations.
Over the decades of the past 100 years there have been changes and developments that have effectively changed the course of shipping throughout the world.
And much of this has been experienced in the New Zealand trade.
Back at this time in 1909, the Wm.
Denny yard at Dumbarton was fitting out the 10,758gt Ruahine for the New Zealand Shipping Company.
A twin-screw steamer powered by two triple-expansion engines and designed to carry passengers in three classes as well as emigrants, the ship also had refrigerated capacity in its holds.
Ruahine served the company until 1949, and then Italian interests, until scrapped in 1957.
Twenty years after the vessel was built, the NZSCo introduced Rangitiki, Rangitata and Rangitane, the first twin-screw motor passenger-cargo liners built for the UK-NZ trade.
And in 1949 it introduced its largest vessels of this type, Rangitane and Rangitoto, which were joined by the smaller third Ruahine in 1951.
Transferred to the ownership of the associated Federal Steam Navigation Company late in 1966, they passed to foreign ownership in 1968-69.
By then the significant role played by the refrigerated cargo liner in the New Zealand trade had reached its twilight years as container shipping made its debut in the Australian trade early in 1969.
Then in June, 1971, Hamburg-Sud introduced Port Chalmers to the containerisation era.
Within the next few years the British cargo liners owned by companies that were household names throughout the world were being replaced by container ships.
Coastal shipping services, upon which New Zealand had been reliant for so long, were also coming to an end.
And at the same time there was very little left of the United Kingdom shipbuilding industry that had built so many vessels of different types seen in New Zealand waters from as far back as sailing ship days.
It was in the early 1960s that the country's shipyards started to close, measures often brought about because of industrial action, pricing and competition from foreign builders.
Even British liner companies were placing orders with German yards in the 1950s and 1960s and the last refrigerated cargo liners built for the New Zealand trade came from Japan.
Until after World War 2, the British merchant fleet was the largest in the world and British shipbuilders held the world's number one spot.
Eventually, Japan became the world's leading shipbuilding nation, until it was pushed aside by South Korea.
Sadly, the British flag which once dominated the local scene, with visits by cargo liners and passenger ships, tramps and tankers, is seldom seen here nowadays.
Since the beginning of this year it has appeared on 14 occasions, with visits by the Chinese-built, chartered container ship MSC Kiwi and one call by the cruise ship Pacific Sun.
