‘Degree of chaos’: Minister says KiwiRail needs to do better on ferry reliability

Transport Minister Michael Wood: New ferries are on track to be delivered by 2025, according to advice Wood has received. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Dire Strait is an investigative series on how our inter-island ferries came to be in such a state of disrepair - and how the situation can be fixed.

Transport Minister Michael Wood has warned of ongoing reliability problems with Interislander’s beleaguered ferries and says KiwiRail needs to do a better job of managing the situation.

In recent weeks there has been a mayday call, mechanical problems, cancellations, and thousands of passengers left stranded on either side of Cook Strait.

KiwiRail owns the Interislander ferries and as a state-owned enterprise itself, is accountable to the Government.

Two new mega-ferries are currently being built in South Korea to replace the ageing fleet, at a cost of $551m, but the first ship isn’t due until 2025.

Responding to questions from the Herald today, Wood warned there will potentially be ongoing reliability issues until the new ferries arrive.

This was because the current vessels were reaching the end of their working lives and the previous government did not move to replace them in a timely manner, he said.

Wood has asked KiwiRail to come up with a plan to manage the situation as effectively as possible and expects that plan to be finalised in the coming weeks.

“The real challenge that people have experienced over the last few months has been the unreliability, that people have planned to move freight or to travel from one island to the other, and then on the day, they haven’t been able to do that and that’s what creates a degree of chaos.”

Wood said there needed to be a more planned approach to managing the vessels over the next couple of years. He suggested this might include having more time out for planned maintenance that could be signalled well in advance, rather than having unplanned disruptions.

KiwiRail needed to do a better job of managing reliability going forward, he said.

“That is the expectation that the Government has put down to KiwiRail and that’s what they’re working on now.”

KiwiRail has already apologised to passengers for the disruption and Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook has said they have confidence in the current fleet’s ability to service Cook Strait until the new ferries arrive.

Last year KiwiRail purchased a fourth ship for its fleet called the Valentine. It was initially leased for a period after the Kaiarahi’s gearbox was catastrophically damaged and taken out of action for an entire year.

The Valentine is freight-only and has helped to shore up the vital supply chain link between the North and South Islands.

Asked whether another ship might be leased to ease the squeeze on passengers until the new ferries were built, Wood said this was a decision for KiwiRail and its board.

“The immediate priority is making sure we have a plan for these vessels to be as reliable as possible because ultimately, even if a decision was made to procure an additional vessel, that would take some time to find, to procure, to get into the country, and to have operational.”

The Aratere is the only purpose-built ferry in Interislander's fleet. Photo / Mark Mitchell

As of last week, KiwiRail had not approached the Government for more funding to deal with the current fleet’s problems.

The first of the new ferries is on track to be delivered by 2025, according to advice Wood has received. Work on the associated portside infrastructure was progressing well, he said.

There is only one purpose-built ship in Interislander’s current fleet- Aratere.

Valentine, Kaiarahi, and Kaitaki all had previous lives in various parts of the world before KiwiRail purchased them.

Aratere was built by Spanish ship-builders in 1998 and it came with all the latest technology onboard but ironically, it has become well-known for mechanical breakdowns.

“To say Aratere’s introduction to the Cook Strait route was challenging was an understatement,” Interislander’s own website said.

The ship lost power on several occasions in Wellington Harbour and was left drifting. There was an incident with a trawler in 2003. In 2005 it did an unscheduled 360 degrees turn in the harbour, the website said.

“In March 2006 Aratere set off from Wellington on a particularly stormy day. The ship rolled heavily several times during the crossing. It took seven and a half hours to reach Picton and several cars and trucks were damaged. Five rail wagons toppled. There was an investigation and new heavy weather protocols were introduced.”

In 2013 the ferry lost a propeller in Cook Strait, which Interislander is regularly reminded of on social media.

Asked whether passengers could have confidence the two new purpose-built ships would in fact be an improvement, Wood said there were full assurance processes in place to make sure the new ferries are highly reliable.

“It is absolutely the expectation of the Crown, who is putting significant investment into these projects, that every box is ticked to ensure these vessels will be as reliable as possible. I have no concerns in that regard,” he said.