Gearbox issue leaves Interislander ferry taking long route

Sunday, 9 June 2024

Interislander’s Cook Strait ferry the Aratere is on a revised schedule after a gearbox part needed replacing.

Cook Strait’s Interislander line is down to a single fully working ferry after a gearbox issue means one is having to take a longer route and another is laid up for maintenance.

Interislander general manager Duncan Roy said a gearbox part in the Aratere had been found to be in need of replacement. A spare part had been fitted but a new replacement was needed and this was expected to take eight weeks.

The ship was operating a “revised schedule” while waiting for the new part, which meant an hour was added to the crossing time.

The Kaitaki is the only Interislander ferry keeping to its schedule.

While he did not say what the revised schedule meant, a ship tracking website shows it has been missing the narrow Tory Channel and instead entering Marlborough Sounds via Queen Charlotte Sound to the north.

Meanwhile, another of the Interislander fleet, the Kaiarahi was in wet dock for scheduled maintenance, Roy said.

“This is a period of low demand for both freight customers and passengers, and experience tells us this timing will have the least impact on all our customers,” he said.

It leaves just the problem-plagued Kaitaki plying the normal route for the Interislander line.

The rubber expansion joint which ruptured in the Kaitaki cooling system.

The Kaitaki lost power to all four engines in January 2023 while crossing the Cook Strait.

With 864 people on board a mayday was issued as it was pushed by strong winds towards the rocky coast before anchors held.

The fault was caused by a deteriorated rubber expansion joint, overdue for replacement, which ruptured in the cooling system.

It resumed carrying passengers on March 4 but just one day later was out of service again after an engineering fault was discovered in one of the ship’s gearboxes.