Interisland ferries escape speed curb

Interisland ferries are getting a green light on speed in the Marlborough Sounds but any new ships will have to comply with tougher wake restrictions.

Environmental lobby groups fear that means ferry operators will want to hold on to their existing ships "forever".

The Marlborough District Council issued a decision yesterday on its proposed plan to ease the environmental effects of shipping in Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel, on the recommendation of a committee which heard submissions in August.

The variation to its district plan would require newly introduced ships of more than 500 tonnes travelling at more than 15 knots (28 km/h) through the Marlborough Sounds to get resource consents and meet wave height limits.

But the decision also takes account of New Zealand Shipping Federation and Interislander concerns about the viability of their Cook Strait operations if the speed of the present ferries is lowered from 20 knots to 15 knots.

Guardians of the Sounds spokesman Peter Beech was pleased large conventional ships would in future need resource consents and have to comply with a wave height formula.

"We are proud of the council for sticking to their guns," he said.

But he said he was disappointed the Arahura and Aratere ferries were still able to ply the Sounds, causing ongoing damage.

He hoped the damage would cease when the vessels were replaced but said the way the variation had been designed, the companies would want to keep them forever.

Further, the council had dropped the requirement for financial contributions from shipping operators to fund monitoring and research.

"So the question arises, how are these things to be funded? And also one wonders how compliance in future to the wave height rule would be funded," he said.

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said the new rule both protected the environment and satisfied the business needs of interisland shipping companies.

New Zealand Shipping Federation spokesman Paul Nicholas said it would be difficult for any company to put a new interisland vessel in the Sounds in future because of the 15-knot restriction and the need to comply with the wave height formula and still run three sailings a day.

Bluebridge spokeswoman Sheryl Mateni said the new rule would make adding ships to the fleet more complicated. She questioned how companies would go about testing whether a ship met wave height criteria.

The Sounds' environment had recovered significantly since fast ferry speeds were cut and it was unacceptable to lower conventional ferry speeds when there had been a recovery while they were travelling at 20 knots, she said.

The council's decision will be open for appeal to the Environment Court.

- NZPA