Crossing the Cook Strait has been anything but smooth sailing. Dire Strait is an ongoing investigative series looking at the full saga and inside story of our interisland ferries, how they came to be in such a state of disrepair, and how it’ll all be fixed.
OPINION:
When the Interislander’s Kairahi suffered catastrophic damage to its gearbox in 2021, it marked the beginning of a tumultuous time for the Cook Strait ferries - the situation was so bad last month that the passenger service was reduced to just one ship.
The Interislander’s Aratere, Kaitaki, and Kaiarahi are all reaching the end of their 30-year working lives, making them increasingly unreliable and more prone to breakdowns.
Rival operator Bluebridge has suffered disruption too, with its newest vessel taken out of service almost as soon as it started operating.
This has resulted in a series of chaotic cancellations, delays, refunds, backlogs, and sailings being rescheduled.
The average age of Interislander’s three passenger ferries is 26 years old. The Kaitaki is 28 years old, meaning it is being pushed right to the limit.
The Herald has revealed one in five Interislander sailings were cancelled in the 2022 financial year. A third departed late, meaning they did not leave within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, and a quarter of arrivals were also late.
It was by far the worst year for the ferries in the last five years. If the past month is anything to go by, this year could be even bleaker.
Passengers left in the lurch
Auckland University student Sam Aschebrock, 20, has been caught up in the drama three times and said the fiasco has cost him about $1000.
Aschebrock was in the Marlborough Sounds working on a mussel farm over the summer holidays, but his Interislander ferry trip back to the North Island on February 14 was cancelled due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Aschebrock’s fare was refunded, but when he rebooked for February 22, the fare was $100 higher. That trip was then cancelled due to maintenance issues, with no sailings available until March 10.
Aschebrock had to leave his car parked at the airport in Blenheim and fly home for about $400, with plans to fly back and collect the car.
His latest sailing has again been thrown into disarray because of an engineering problem with the Kaitaki.
Earlier this week he couldn’t find availability for other sailings until late March, which will be difficult to fit around his university schedule.
He said it was “frustrating” because Bluebridge and Interislander were the “big dogs” and there were no other options for people needing to transport cars across the strait.
“They’re both just constantly cancelling their ferries and it’s just like, you know, as an individual you can’t do anything about it.”
The beginning of the end
In August 2021 the Kaiarahi ferry was “catastrophically” damaged and in need of European specialist assistance when its gearbox failed.
The extent of the damage was revealed in ministerial briefings from then KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller, which were released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.
“Bearings and gears were catastrophically damaged during the failure. Further, the forces caused by the failure warped the gearbox casing. In order to get access to the gearbox, we needed to remove some utility services and cut through the deck.”
Miller said KiwiRail was satisfied the gearbox had been maintained and monitored appropriately under Interislander’s asset management practices.
“The failure is simply sudden and accidental,” he reported.
The extent of the repair job took the Kaiarahi out of service for an entire year. The effects were felt almost immediately when the Aratere needed to go to Sydney for dry dock work the following month.
KiwiRail warned New Zealand’s supply chain would face a challenging few weeks with only the Kaitaki operating and sought the freight sector’s forbearance, co-operation and forward planning to make the best of a difficult situation.
Unfortunately, soon after the Aratere returned from Sydney it was affected by a fault that caused abnormal vibrations, which was identified during an inspection. Less than two weeks later a mechanical issue forced her to take an alternative route.
The situation had become bad enough for KiwiRail to lease an additional freight-only ferry called the Valentine, which it has subsequently purchased, to secure the supply line in the event of any further unexpected mechanical disruptions.
A horror run
The woes continued into 2022 as the service faced pressure from crew shortages, faults, delays and wild weather.
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett called it a “horror run” for KiwiRail, with trucks stranded on either side of Cook Strait.
A report from KiwiRail in March 2022, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, said 55 crew members had been affected by Covid-19 and it was no longer tenable to maintain a normal sailing schedule. Later that month KiwiRail confirmed 22 sailings were cancelled due to the virus.
The Aratere was also scheduled to go to Sydney for dry dock work, making for a tighter but manageable capacity.
The Aratere was delayed by a large storm over New South Wales and was unable to return in time for Easter weekend.
Passengers and freight were affected, including about 5000 passengers with vehicles.
Sailings were at near capacity and non-urgent freight was removed from one ferry to free up more space.
To make things worse, one of the Bluebridge ferries was also out of service during this long weekend as it too was scheduled for dry dock work.
Later that year the Interislander service was reduced to just one passenger service for the best part of August and September.
The Ararete and Kaitaki both needed maintenance work and the Kaiarahi’s gearbox still hadn’t been fixed (a full year after the incident happened).
Kaiarahi was eased back into its Cook Strait sailings starting with a freight-only service halfway through September.
Mayday call
Things had seemingly improved by the end of last year, until the Kaitaki issued a mayday call in Cook Strait with 864 people on board. All four engines had shut down in the middle of a roaring southerly.
Hundreds of people on board a ship drifting towards Wellington’s rocky shoreline was a nightmare scenario for those who had spent the last year battling to keep the Interislander’s ageing and increasingly unreliable fleet running.
KiwiRail has since revealed the problem was caused by a leak in the engine cooling system, which resulted in a loss of pressure.
This was detected by sensors and the engines shut down automatically to protect them from overheating.
Passengers on board all had the Wahine disaster on their minds and the seriousness of the situation was perhaps best exemplified by the fact a mass rescue plan was activated and a special response team was stood up.
The ship limped back to Wellington harbour and was back sailing Cook Strait shortly after, but as a freight-only service.
About two weeks later the Aratere experienced a technical issue causing a partial loss of power on the way to Picton, and slowed for a short time.
Then, rival operator Bluebridge added to the woes.
The Connemara, which had only recently arrived in Wellington, got into trouble on the way to Picton. It returned and docked in Wellington with assistance.
There was a problem with an engine and repairs were required. Again, the situation was not helped by Bluebridge already being down one ferry with the Strait Feronia in Sydney for its scheduled dry dock.
At one point, Interislander’s Aratere was the only passenger ferry servicing the Cook Strait.
After five weeks of running a freight-only service, Interislander announced the Kaitaki would start taking passengers again after its mayday call.
But the next day a problem was found with one of her gearboxes and she was expected to remain out of action for at least two weeks.
Interislander has disabled Facebook comments on its posts to devote resources to communicating directly with passengers.
Where to from here?
In 2021 KiwiRail announced a $551 million contract had been signed off for two new rail-enabled mega-ferries to service Cook Strait and replace the current fleet.
They can carry twice as many passengers and significantly more freight to meet expected growth over the next 30 years.
The Government has invested more than $430m of the cost to replace the fleet, but the first new ferry isn’t due until 2025.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said he has met with KiwiRail’s board to seek assurances they are taking the situation seriously.
He has also requested a plan on how KiwiRail will manage the fleet until the new ferries arrive.
KiwiRail has confirmed it has not approached the Government for more funding for the current fleet in the meantime.
Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook said KiwiRail has confidence in the current fleet’s ability to service the Cook Strait until the new ferries arrive.
Given the breakdowns and disruptions, passengers and freight owners may not share that same confidence.