Waiheke ferry cancellations ‘very embarrassing, and then it just kept happening’
Thursday, 27 March 2025
Early morning ferry cancellations have been causing strife for mainland workers from Waiheke Island.
Passengers say the usually reliable 6am service has been cancelled multiple times in recent weeks.
Auckland Transport said it has concerns for the overall performance of ferry operator, Fullers 360, after delays and cancellations on another Auckland service.
Workers on Waiheke Island taking the first ferry of the day to downtown Auckland are counting the costs after at least three cancellations of the 6am service already in March.
Poppy Ord, a nurse at Starship Children’s Hospital said she has been commuting for 11 years and never struck so many early cancellations, with three in recent weeks.
Ord said there were cancellations from time to time, but they had been more condensed in the last month.
“The flow on effect is huge. I’m meant to be there at 7, so when the 6am ferry is cancelled I get there an hour late.”
In that hour, she has missed handovers, safety briefings, the highlighting of patients of concern, and another nurse with their own caseload has to take her handover and workload, Ord said.
“It’s frustrating because I know the effect it’s going to have, even changing patient allocation loads. If there’s multiple handovers there’s opportunities for things to be missed.”
Ord, 37, said it takes hours to catch up from a one-hour delay.
Have you been impacted by cancelled ferry services? Contact erin.johnson@stuff.co.nz
The situation has made her consider leaving the island, where she has lived her whole life and her daughter is settled in school, “but my entire family live here and it would mean leaving behind all support.”
Another commuter, Bronwyn Weaver, said when the 6am sailing was cancelled on Monday, February 10, it was unusual and she called her employer to apologise.
“The second time it was very embarrassing, and then it just kept happening.”
Another passenger posted on social media that on top of the $400 she paid for an AT Hop monthly pass with ferry operator Fullers360, she had paid extra to travel on the next ferry to the city at 6.45am which is run by a different operator - Island Direct.
The monthly pass can only be used with one ferry company, not both, according to the AT website.
A spokesperson for Fullers360 said eight 6am sailings from Waiheke to Auckland have been cancelled across a 12-month period.
“These are due to a range of reasons which include mechanical, weather, cruise ships in the harbour and ferry basin (outside of Fullers360’s reasonable control), as well as normal operational issues as expected with vessels.”
Two cancellations in March were due to engine alarms and one was because generator batteries were dead, she said.
“For context, we have run over 16,000 services between Waiheke Island and Auckland across the same 12-month period with an average reliability of over 99%.”
But Auckland Transport’s Stacey Van Der Putten said the transport agency is concerned about the overall performance of Fullers360’s ferry services, “especially in light of the recent cancellations and delays to the Gulf Harbour ferry service”.
“We do acknowledge that there are very real constraints in the system until a new fleet is deployed which will improve network resilience across contracted services.”
“In principle, we work with our operators to understand the constraints and the potential impact this has on contracted services as well as to the important services provided to the Waiheke community.”
Asked whether AT is looking at making the monthly Waiheke ferry pass usable with both operators, Van Der Putten said that is “something AT would support and encourage, as it would also give Waiheke Island residents a greater choice”.
Waiheke services run outside the public transport network, while Fullers360 is contracted to provide passenger services from downtown Auckland to Devonport, Half Moon Bay, Gulf Harbour, and Hobsonville Point and Beach Haven.