The Aratere has been in service in New Zealand since 1999. Photo / RNZ, Samuel Rillstone
By Nick James of RNZ
Interislander ends three decades of history today, when the Aratere departs Picton for Wellington for the last time this morning.
It was announced in April the ferry would stop crossing the Cook Strait to make way for new port infrastructure needed for two new ships set to arrive in 2029.
The ferry first arrived on New Zealand’s shores in 1999, having been built in Spain at the Hijos de J.Barreras shipyard the year before, and replaced the Aratika, which had been in service from 1974.
Maritime Union Wellington Branch secretary Fiona Mansell worked on the Aratere as a cabin attendant and said it would be “really sad” to see the ship sail into the capital for the last time.
“It’s kind of like losing something or somebody that’s very close to you.”
Mansell told RNZ the ferry’s crew created the best memories onboard it.
“They’re with each other you know a lot, they become family, not just friends, not just crew mates.”
The ship’s retirement was difficult to deal with, she said.
“It’s a big loss to the crew, to our membership, to this country, to our city.”
Cool Tranz truck driver Morgan MacAllister-Robb had been sailing on the Interislander frequently for his 35-year career.
Over the past six years he had been on board the Aratere six days a week – which equated to 312 trips annually.
MacAllister-Robb said by a stroke of luck he had a ticket on its last crossing.
“I didn’t even actually have to plan it, it just happens to be one of my scheduled sailings.”
He said that the Aratere was his favourite of the three ferries in the Interislander fleet, and that it would be weird to not see it in Wellington and Picton port.
In its first months of service, it faced several mechanical problems – including a sailing on February 24, 1999,where it suffered a series of power failures that left it adrift in Wellington Harbour.
Days later, KiwiRail – then called Tranz Rail – put out a large full-page ad in the Weekend Herald which had a picture of the ferry with the text: “Sorry it hasn’t been plain sailing”.
There were problems with the ship highlighted throughout that year and in the 2000s, which included the time it was taken out in heavy conditions and lurched forward, which lightly injured five people.
It led to the introduction of new heavy weather protocols for Cook Strait ferry operators.
In late April 2011, the Aratere headed to Singapore for six months for a $53 million 30m extension, which increased the number of passengers it could hold from 400 to 650.
The work was done by cutting the ship in half and inserting what was called the “mid-body”.
As part of that work, new propellers were fitted, which became a focus when two years later the starboard propeller was lost in Cook Strait.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s (TAIC) chief investigator Tim Burfoot said the propeller was fitted poorly, and that was likely because KiwiRail either did not seek, or follow, expert advice.
On an evening sailing on June 21, 2024, the Aratere ran aground just outside Picton with 47 passengers on board.
No one was injured, but it triggered another Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigation, with its interim report finding a 36-second autopilot mistake led to the grounding.
The report showed that a new Kongsberg steering system had been installed on the Aratere just weeks prior in May, and 83 inter-island crossings were made in the three subsequent weeks.
It also found the crew did not know how to take back control from the autopilot, and it took about two minutes before the ship was brought back under manual control.
In April, Rail Minister Winston Peters announced it would be retired due to it being the only ferry where rail freight can roll on and off it.
That means it can’t use another wharf in Picton while port upgrades there and in Wellington are under way for two new ferries, set to arrive in 2029.
At the time, Peters said it would have cost $120 million to keep the Aratere in service.
The retirement has caused a restructure at KiwiRail with some jobs on the chopping block.
In a statement, KiwiRail said that confirmation of what jobs would end and what staff could be redeployed in the company would come at the end of August.
It said that a decision had not been made on the future of the Aratere post-retirement and it would lay up at its Wellington berth in the meantime.