Interislander’s Kaitaki ferry returns to service tomorrow

Interislander’s Kaitaki ferry will return to service tomorrow and the company is assuring it will be safe for the freight-only passages planned initially. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Interislander’s Kaitaki ferry will return to service tomorrow and the company is assuring it will be safe for the freight-only passages.

The ferry was beset by engine issues on Saturday, leading to the ship issuing a mayday call and the handing out of lifejackets to passengers.

“Our top priority is safety, and we would not be sailing unless we were satisfied the vessel was ready,” Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook said.

Kaitaki will make two freight-only return trips tomorrow and further checks would be made before passengers were allowed back on.

“The plan is to return Kaitaki into service in a staged way. After further performance and assurance checks, we will resume taking passengers.

“We will confirm the timeframes as soon as we are able, but it is likely to run as freight-only for one to two weeks,” Rushbrook said.

“The ship has already undertaken sea trials in Wellington Harbour.”

Rushbrook appreciated the issue had disrupted passengers and freight customers during one of the busiest times of the year.

“We are also running additional sailings of Aratere and Valentine to help meet demand, and appreciate everybody’s patience as we work through this challenging situation,” he said.

“All those affected are being notified individually.

“We apologise again for the impact this disruption has had on people’s plans and we are working hard to relieve the situation as quickly as possible.”

Leak in cooling system caused power loss

KiwiRail earlier said a leak in the Kaitaki’s engine cooling system caused the ship to lose all power.

There were 864 people on board when all four engines shut down. No one was injured.

The ship was eventually able to regain some power and made it back to shore, accompanied by several other vessels, including two tugboats.

Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook said the root cause was a fault in the ship’s engine cooling system.

“A leak occurred in a connection that is part of the cooling system, which resulted in a loss of pressure,” Rushbrook said.

“Sensors in each of the engines detected the reduction in pressure and the engines automatically shut down to protect them from overheating.”

Rushbrook said the crew quickly isolated the fault and were able to restore power to the ship.

“The crew rapidly isolated the fault and were able to restore power to the ship.

The connection has been repaired and all other parts of the cooling system have been checked and tested, Rushbrook said.