KiwiRail charged over Aratere ferry grounding
Photo: Supplied / Renee Horncastle
Maritime NZ has filed two health and safety charges against KiwiRail over its grounding of the Interislander ferry Aratere nearly a year ago.
On June 21, 2024, the ship grounded just north of Picton with 47 people on board.
No-one was injured and the ship was refloated just under 24 hours later.
A preliminary Transport Investigation Commission report found the event started with an autopilot mistake.
Maritime NZ chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the two charges filed under the Health and Safety at Work Act related to failures by KiwiRail to keep crew and passengers safe while on board.
"This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management."
Hewlett said Maritime NZ looked at systems, policies, procedures and culture within KiwiRail with regard to the grounding.
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said due to the charges being before the courts they could not comment on them.
Roy said since the grounding the Cook Strait ferry service had made improvements to its processes and systems to avoid a repeat of this issue.
"We immediately undertook an internal investigation which resulted in nine recommendations - seven of those recommendations have been completed.
"This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures."
He said since the breakdown Aratere had made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
1News
17 hours ago
- 1News
Charges filed against KiwiRail over Aratere grounding
Maritime NZ has filed two charges against KiwiRail following an investigation into the grounding of Interislander ferry Aratere last year. The Aratere grounded just north of Picton on June 21 last year, with 47 people onboard at the time. No one was injured and the vessel was refloated two days afterwards, with damage to its bow that required repair. Maritime New Zealand's chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the charges relate to failures by the operator to keep crew and passengers safe while onboard the ferry, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. "This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management. ADVERTISEMENT "It required us to look at systems, policies and procedures, culture, within KiwiRail in relation to the incident." She said a "significant number of interviews were conducted" and a substantial amount of evidence collated. Three investigations are looking at what happened to the vessel when it hit the coastline near Picton. (Source: 1News) "The time taken to undertake this investigation, collate and review the evidence, and decide on compliance action is consistent with other complex and major incidents," she said. "As we have now filed charges in court, we cannot talk about what our investigation found," Hewlett said. In October last year, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission released an initial report into the incident, finding that less than three minutes passed between crew on the Aratere switching on autopilot and the ferry grounding. TAIC will release a final report with further analysis and any possible recommendations at a later date. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier this year, the Government announced the ferry would be retired by August 30 to make way for required Picton port redevelopment in preparation for the two brand-new Cook Strait ferries arriving in 2029. The grounding was just one of many incidents that have plagued the vessel in its 25 years of crossing the Cook Strait. Interislander responds In a statement, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy told 1News the company has "made improvements to our processes and systems to avoid an event like this happening again". Roy said an internal investigation carried out in the immediate aftermath of the incident led to nine recommendations – the majority of which have been implemented. "This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures." Since returning to passenger sailings, the Aratere has made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles, Roy said. The vessel's reliability is at 98% this financial year. ADVERTISEMENT In 2024, Interislander brought in independent overseas assessors DNV to review its three ships and their maintenance. Roy said DNV found the ships were in good condition for their age and with the company's stringent maintenance regime, there was no systemic reason why they cannot continue sailing safely until 2029. The charges Charge 1: s48 charge - in that it had a duty as a PCBU, namely to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere and that failure exposed crew members and passengers to the risk of death or serious injury. Maximum penalty $1.5m Charge 2: s49 charge under HSWA - in that it had a duty as a PCBU, failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere. Maximum penalty: $500,000
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
KiwiRail charged over Cook Strait ferry grounding
Photo: Supplied / Renee Horncastle Maritime NZ has filed two health and safety charges against KiwiRail over its grounding of the Interislander ferry Aratere nearly a year ago. On June 21, 2024, the ship grounded just north of Picton with 47 people on board. No-one was injured and the ship was refloated just under 24 hours later. A preliminary Transport Investigation Commission report found the event started with an autopilot mistake. Maritime NZ chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the two charges filed under the Health and Safety at Work Act related to failures by KiwiRail to keep crew and passengers safe while on board. "This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management." Hewlett said Maritime NZ looked at systems, policies, procedures and culture within KiwiRail with regard to the grounding. Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said due to the charges being before the courts they could not comment on them. Roy said since the grounding the Cook Strait ferry service had made improvements to its processes and systems to avoid a repeat of this issue. "We immediately undertook an internal investigation which resulted in nine recommendations - seven of those recommendations have been completed. "This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures." He said since the breakdown Aratere had made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles.
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
KiwiRail charged over Aratere ferry grounding
Photo: Supplied / Renee Horncastle Maritime NZ has filed two health and safety charges against KiwiRail over its grounding of the Interislander ferry Aratere nearly a year ago. On June 21, 2024, the ship grounded just north of Picton with 47 people on board. No-one was injured and the ship was refloated just under 24 hours later. A preliminary Transport Investigation Commission report found the event started with an autopilot mistake. Maritime NZ chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the two charges filed under the Health and Safety at Work Act related to failures by KiwiRail to keep crew and passengers safe while on board. "This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management." Hewlett said Maritime NZ looked at systems, policies, procedures and culture within KiwiRail with regard to the grounding. Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said due to the charges being before the courts they could not comment on them. Roy said since the grounding the Cook Strait ferry service had made improvements to its processes and systems to avoid a repeat of this issue. "We immediately undertook an internal investigation which resulted in nine recommendations - seven of those recommendations have been completed. "This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures." He said since the breakdown Aratere had made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles.
