Troubled waters: A brief history of Interislander issues

Saturday, 22 June 2024

The Aratere had a 'steering failure' on Friday night, the Interislander general manager said.

The Cook Strait ferry ran aground in Picton last night with crew and passengers onboard.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown as recently as this week told a select committee the Government was unimpressed with how KiwiRail was maintaining the Interislander fleet.

Here’s a brief history of what’s gone wrong and why replacing the ferries has become difficult.

Interislander ferry Aratere runs aground in Pine Bay, near Picton.

Troubled waters

1998: The $106 million Aratere is built in Spain. Within a year of its delivery, the crew dub it 'El Lemon'.

1999: Power failures bring Aratere to a standstill in February and May. In September, smoke in the engine room sends 250 passengers and 40 crew scurrying to emergency stations.

2000: A liferaft falls off while docked in Wellington in June. In December, it blows a piston engine.

2004: Passengers on Aratere have a nightmare eight-hour journey from Picton to Wellington after the ship breaks down in mountainous seas.

2006: Aratere rams the trawler San Domenico in high winds in July while berthing in Wellington Harbour. In February, the Arahura loses power while in Wellington Harbour with 200 passengers on board.

2011: Aratere sails for Singapore for $54 million refit. Returns behind schedule, with rats on board. On November 7, all three Interislander ferries were out of action at once.

2013: Aratere loses one of its propellers in Cook Strait, putting it out of action for the busy summer season.

The Government declined the billion-dollar funding top-up.

2023: The Kaitaki lost power and drifted towards rocks in Wellington in January. Two harbour tugs raced to the rescue but would have been almost powerless to help of the ship as the capital had got rid of tugs with open water salvage capability.

Government declines ferry funding

2023: The National coalition Government declines a $1.4b funding request from KiwiRail in order to replace its ageing Interislander fleet. KiwiRail had given a contract to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard to build two rail-enabled ferries but projected costs had blown out due to upgrading harbourside infrastructure in Wellington and Picton, including to accommodate new larger ferries.

Finance Nicola Willis said the project had been too expensive: “The Government remains committed to a resilient safe and reliable Cook Strait connection, but the cost of this project has almost quadrupled since 2018 to approximately $3 billion.

“It is also now the case that only 21% of these costs are associated with the core project of replacing ageing ferries.

“Ministers do not have confidence that there will not be further increases and are concerned about the continued significant cost blow-outs and the changing nature of the investment they are being asked to make.

“Furthermore, agreeing to KiwiRail’s request would reduce the Government’s ability to address the cost pressures that are impacting on New Zealanders, fund other essential projects and get the Crown’s books back in order.”

The KiwiRail board said in response it would wind down the project and would review plans for the Cook Strait connection. The board and its stakeholders were disappointed, board chair David McLean said in December.

“An alternative suitable long-term solution could take years to develop. In the interim, KiwiRail will continue to invest in the safety and reliability of the existing Interislander fleet, through strong asset management practices.”

In select committee hearings in Parliament this week, Transport Minister Simeon Brown reportedly said he was “highly unimpressed” with how KiwiRail was maintaining its fleet.

“They [KiwiRail] have in recent months been improving their maintenance protocols significantly from the poor maintenance protocols that they had in the last few years because they understand, and have had it impressed upon them, the importance of having well-maintained Cook Strait ferries which has not been the case in the last few years.”

In June 2024 two ferries were down as one had a gearbox issue and another was being maintained, with significant impact on services.

The cost of maintaining the ferries had been projected to run into the tens of millions, but Brown told the same select committee he didn’t expect it to be as high as a reported $65m a year.