The shipping trade of Blenheim dates back to 1849, when small coasters, such as the schooners “Triumph” and “Old Jack,” called at the port of Wairau. The cargoes discharged inside the Boulder Bank were afterwards brought up the river in boats towed by horses. Wool was also taken down the river, and up to Port Underwood, where it was loaded in English-going vessels. The earthquakes of 1855 so improved the rivers that navigation became less difficult, and a few years later a fleet of small vessels, engaged in the colonial trade, sailed up the Opawa to Blenheim. Among these were the “Gipsy,” “Mary,” “Rapid,” “Necromancer,” “Alert,” “Supply,” and “Falcon.” Small steamers afterwards made their appearance on both the Wairau and Opawa rivers, the paddle steamer “Tasmanian Maid” being the first to ply on the Wairau, and the paddle steamer “Lyttelton,” the first on the Opawa. The paddle steamer “Napier” was a regular trader for many years. Small screw steamers now ply regularly between Blenheim and Wellington. The amount of pilotage collected at the port of Wairau during the year which ended on the 31st of March, 1905, was £217 8s 3d, and the amount of light dues, £21 15s 11d. The total expenditure for the same period was £514 3s 2d, of which £320 was spent in protective works; but this sum was of a special, and not of a recurring, nature.