Reports have surfaced that Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk was a target of this week’s cyberattacks.
Port Otago’s outgoing chief executive Geoff Plunket was contacted and said the cyberattacks had not affected the company’s IT system, nor was it expected to affect the arrival, unloading or departure of Maersk container vessels.
"The next [Maersk] vessel is due on Monday and we’re not expecting any issues," he said.
Leda Maersk is due in Port Chalmers about 6am on Monday.Ports of Auckland said it had not been directly affected by the attack, but it had disrupted Maersk’s normal "channels of communication with ports".
"We’re working with them to get around this issue," the company said in a statement.
There would be some impact on the speed the port was able to handle Maersk containers, but it was not expected to cause significant delays, the company said.
Following the cyberattacks, AP Moller-Maersk said it was working to restore its operations a day after being hit by the ransomware, The New Zealand Herald reported.
"We have contained the issue and are working on a technical recovery plan with key IT partners and global cybersecurity agencies," Maersk said in a market update.
The Copenhagen-based group said its APM Terminals were affected "in a number of ports", but its vessels with Maersk Line were "manoeuvrable, able to communicate and crews are safe".
