A bolstered blue highway is offering a freight lifeline for two cyclone-hit regions with severely damaged roads.
The government's announced a $3 million subsidy for the freight ship Rangitata to run an emergency coastal route between Gisborne and Hawke's Bay for the next three months.
Quarter of a million of that will go toward wharf improvements in Tūranganui-a-kiwa Gisborne.
Damage to state highways mean a road trip from Gisborne to Napier has gone from about three hours to nine.
Eastland Port chief operating officer Andrew Gaddum joins us now.
