Maritime Union says Aratere ferry should not retire, despite breakdown

RNZ News

a day ago

Some Thursday morning sailings of the Aratere ferry were cancelled.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Maritime Union says the government should not retire the Aratere despite its recent breakdown, as a three-ship fleet is needed for a resilient Cook Strait connection.
A propulsion fault meant the ferry had to
wait at anchor for hours in Queen Charlotte Sound overnight
while a specialist electrician came to fix the problem.
The breakdown comes while the
Kaiārahi
is out of action due to scheduled wet dock maintenance, including emergency repairs, and ahead of the
Kaitaki
being out of service for a routine safety inspection.
Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay said the incident was concerning and could have been "catastrophic" if it happened in the Cook Strait, potentially leading to "another huge maritime disaster".
He said the crew,
who were currently facing the loss of their jobs due to the Aratere's impending retirement,
deserved thanks for upholding high standards of professionalism and keeping passengers safe and sound while the ferry was delayed for hours in the Marlborough Sounds.
"It must be really playing on their minds, but they carry on with their work day in, day out in a professional manner and they deserve some applause for that."
Findlay said problems with the vessels, which were all at the end of life, were well documented and the union didn't want to see the
Aratere retired in August
as it left only two vessels responsible for maintaining the inter-island link.
The union had flagged the dangers of removing a key vessel from service, and the current situation showed that KiwiRail needed to rethink their plan.
The union wanted to see the government reverse its decision, spend more money on maintenance and retain the 71 members currently facing the loss of their jobs, until the new ships arrived in 2029.
"They're ageing as we all know, it just shows again the absolutely silly call that Nicola Willis made 18 months ago when she collapsed the iREX project."
"We'd have a new ferry coming around the corner if [the government] hadn't cancelled that project and cost the tax payer hundreds of millions of dollars."
He said the first of those new purpose-built ferries was due to arrive in this year, but were now another four years away, and passengers were likely to face years of disruption.
The union wanted to see the government reverse its decision, spend more money on maintenance and retain the 71 members currently facing the loss of their jobs, until the new ships arrived in 2029.
Findlay said the entire Interislander fleet was currently hampered by breakdowns, damage, or being taken out of service for audit.
Last weekend,
Kaiārahi
had its bow door damaged in rough seas, which will be welded shut to allow it to continue to operate until a scheduled dry dock in Singapore in July.
The
Kaitaki
would soon be out of action while it underwent a Maritime NZ audit, before it headed to dry dock in Singapore.
A KiwiRail spokesperson said it has had to cancel the 4pm
Aratere
sailing, as it continues to explore what caused the electrical issue that led to the ferry breaking down overnight.
It comes after the 6.15am sailing from Wellington and the return 11.00am sailing from Picton were cancelled.
KiwiRail is undertaking further testing to identify what caused the problem.
Private passengers booked on the 4pm sailing are being shifted to the
Kaitaki
sailing at 8.45am on Friday, while all freight customers have been moved onto a
Kaiārahi
sailing which is expected to depart later today.
On 7 June,
Kaiārahi's
bow door sustained some damage when the vessel encountered two large waves off Sinclair Head in Cook Strait.
Kaiārahi
had departed two hours early from Picton, at 5.30am, to get ahead of the forecast large swells. It was a freight only sailing and the swells were well within the vessel's operating limits, with the wave rider showing a 4.4 metre swell.
It has been in scheduled maintenance wet dock since then, with repair work done on the bow door.
The spokesperson said the work had almost been completed and the vessel would resume sailing, before it left for dry dock in Singapore on 27 June. It is due back on 18 August.
Meanwhile, the
Kaitaki
will be out of action this weekend while it undergoes its annual Passenger Ship Safety Certificate inspection this weekend.
A Maritime NZ spokesperson said they were speaking to KiwiRail after the
Aratere's
breakdown, to determine if further action needed to be taken.
It is seeking more information around what occurred, the actions undertaken to remedy the issue, and assurances that appropriate measures are in place to prevent recurrence.
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