The company is the successor to the Wellington Harbour Board, and was formed as one of the outcomes of the 1989 local government reforms.

When the new port company was formed, it owned approximately 72 hectares (180 acres) of Wellington waterfront property including wharves.

When the port company was formed, it owned approximately 72 hectares (180 acres) of Wellington waterfront property including wharves.

Australia, North America and other parts of Asia also accounted for a large portion of the trade through Port of Wellington.

[8] In July 1999, CentrePort announced that it would spend up to $50 million in a ten-year plan to improve facilities on 47 hectares (120 acres) of its land between Waterloo Quay, opposite Wellington railway station, and the Kaiwharawhara reclamation.

This would include moving port offices and log storage facilities, and building a new wharf at Kaiwharawhara, new sheds and a fishing jetty.

The company stated that it would lease out 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of underused land along Waterloo Quay for a hotel, apartments or other commercial activities.

[11] In 2024, as part of its long term plan process, Greater Wellington Regional Council undertook public consultation on a proposal to purchase the remaining shares of CentrePort, if they became available.

Spokesman Ian Cassels did acknowledge that Harbour Quays "could be positive and really contribute to Wellington's future if it manages to adopt some of those mixed-use alternatives".

[28][29] The rail hub results from a collaboration between CentrePort, Forest Enterprises Limited, Farman Turkington Forestry and KiwiRail.

[29] It enables companies to send logs to CentrePort by rail rather than road, which has benefits for profitability, traffic and the environment.

[36][37] In 1968 the passenger ferry Wahine ran aground at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and 53 people died.

[38] Responding to the disaster, the Harbour Board bought new, bigger tugs: Kupe, which went into service in 1971,[39] Toia (1972) and Ngahue (1977).

[42][43] In 2023 there were two instances of large ships drifting without power in Cook Strait, and in both cases CentrePort's tugs were not suited to assist them effectively.

[44] In June 2024, the government announced that it would allocate $600,000 for a study looking into the feasibility of providing an ocean-going tug for Cook Strait.

The 2019 Wellington Lifelines Project reported that the wharf and the fuel infrastructure were reaching the end of their design lives, and were both vulnerable in an earthquake.

[53]: 88 In 2015, CentrePort announced plans to dredge the entrance to the harbour, deepening the channel so that large container ships could use the port.

The proposal would have changed the wave pattern at Eastbourne, and might have affected the Waiwhetu aquifer which lies under the harbour and supplies 40% of Wellington's fresh water.

[56] In 2021 CentrePort dredged the shipping channel at the harbour entrance to remove sand build-up caused by propeller wash.

The study found that the impact of the port supported over 9,000 direct full-time-equivalent positions across multiple sectors of the economy.

[66] A big part of CentrePort's land is an area reclaimed between 1965–1975 for construction of the container terminal and Thorndon Wharf.

Reclaimed areas were filled in with gravelly soil or dredged sand, then the surface was compacted and covered with asphalt.

[67] Statistics House and BNZ Harbour Quays suffered minor damage including burst pipes and falling ceiling panels.

[68] Due to the soft and mostly uncompacted nature of the land, the Kaikōura earthquake in November 2016 caused extensive damage to CentrePort's buildings and facilities.

In 2012, CentrePort had announced plans to turn it into a market and pub, but earthquake damage made this infeasible.

[71] Two large gantry cranes used for moving shipping containers were put out of action for ten months after they jumped off their rails.

Transport costs for businesses increased as freight had to be diverted to other ports then shipped by road or rail to Wellington.

Interislander plans to introduce new hybrid electric ferries that are 30 metres (98 ft) longer than those currently in operation.

The plan includes a wharf about 250 metres (820 ft) long, a ferry terminal building, changes to road, rail and pedestrian access, and marshalling and loading areas.

Development in this area would probably include low-rise residential, retail or office buildings, and public access to green spaces.