The Maritime Union has agreed to suspend strike action and hold mediation talks with Ports of Auckland on Friday, but it is too late to prevent four ships bypassing Auckland for Tauranga this weekend.

'Their partial withdrawal has come too late to stop the four ships diverting to Tauranga this weekend and too late to roster a full complement of staff on tonight,” says Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson.

'While the port will be open tomorrow, we will be working through the backlog created by the last stoppage instead of servicing new callers.

'Importers and exporters will still suffer delays as a result and slots for road carriers will be limited.”

The union is reducing its forthcoming strike from 48 to 24 hours.

The strike will now start at 10.30pm on Friday instead of tonight.

Ports of Auckland will not meet the union during a strike, but on the basis that the stevedores will be working on Friday, they have agreed to continue mediation, says Tony.

'We remain disappointed that the union has chosen not to withdraw the strike planned for Saturday and the further 48 hours of strikes planned for later in the month.”

Tony is determined to press ahead to find a resolution to the dispute.

'Inflexible work arrangements dating back decades need to be addressed for the port to move forward and offer the best service it can for Auckland and New Zealand.

'Maersk's decision to shift the Southern Star service to Tauranga has shown us that we're out of time. We need to lift our game and lift it now.

'This means being able to guarantee our customers reliable, flexible service and achieving up-front productivity gains.

'Our customers and the wider business community are telling us that we have to sort this out once and for all.”

The parties will meet for further mediation at 9am on Friday, December 9.