Kaitaki to return to Cook Strait as freight-only service from Friday

Thursday, 2 February 2023

Interislander’s Kaitaki lost all power on Saturday night, prompting an emergency response. (File photo)

Interislander’s Kaitaki ferry is set to return to the Cook Strait from Friday, sailing from Wellington as a freight-only service.

The ferry has remained berthed in Wellington after a fault saw the ferry lose power on Saturday night, with strong winds pushing the ferry towards a rocky coast. Multiple investigations are underway following this incident.

Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook confirmed Kaitaki would return to sea at 8.45am on Friday.

“The plan is to return Kaitaki into service in a staged way. The ship will return initially as a freight-only service. After further performance and assurance checks, we will resume taking passengers.”

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Interislander’s Kaitaki ferry had a rough start to 2023, with engineering faults putting it out of commission. (Video first published March 2023)

* Interislander ferry crawls back to shore after losing power

Saturday’s fault related to a fault in the engine cooling system. As is common in ships, there is one water cooling system which is connected to all four of the main ship engines and also to the engines that run the generators for electricity, Rushbrook said.

The leaking connection causing the problem had been repaired and all other components of the cooling system checked and tested.

Rushbrook said safety was their top priority and Kaitaki would not be sailing unless they were satisfied the vessel was ready. Sea trials have already been undertaken in Wellington Harbour.

Kaitaki will make two return trips on Friday and then continue on its normal schedule, he said.

“We will confirm the timeframes as soon as we are able, but it is likely to run as freight-only for 1-2 weeks.”

The issue has caused massive disruptions for travellers, with some having to completely rebook or scrap their plans.

“We appreciate this has been very disruptive for our passengers and freight customers at one of the busiest times of the year,” said Rushbrook.

“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.”

Additional sailings of Aratere and Valentine were running to help meet demand. All those affected were being notified individually