Footage shows a pilot vessel arriving to assist the Kaitaki Interislander ship before power was successfully restored.
Video / Lucas Hateley
Opinion by Georgina Campbell
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
The state of the Interislander ferries has been embarrassing for some time, but it has now become frightening after the Kaitaki declared a mayday with 864 people on board.
Unbelievably, the Aratere then briefly broke down in the Cook Strait on Monday night and drifted while en route toPicton.
The Kaitaki issued a mayday because there was a life-threatening emergency. It is the most serious of radio calls. The last resort, to abandon the ship, was also floated.
One passenger saw life rafts being uncovered as a mass rescue operation was stood up on the shore on the evening of January 28.
When the harbourmaster told me on the phone “they were drifting, they’ve got an anchor down, and they declared a mayday”, I felt a chill run down my spine.
For a moment I was shocked, would this night go down in history as New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster in living memory? Every Wellingtonian knows how wild the Cook Strait can be (it’s a difficult crossing at the best of times) and everyone is familiar with the Wahine tragedy.
Luckily, enough power was restored to the ship for it to limp back to shore, escorted by several vessels.
For some passengers, the gravity of their situation only sunk in after they made it into Wellington harbour and started reading media reports.
What’s frightening is thinking about how close the Kaitaki was to a very different fate that night.
The incident marks a significant escalation in the ongoing saga that is the Interislander’s fleet.
The past 18 months have been described as a “horror” run for the ferries, starting with the Kaiarahi when its gearbox suffered “catastrophic damage” in August 2021. The ship was out of action for more than a year.
It was a sharp reminder that the fleet of three ferries was ageing, more prone to unexpected breakdowns, and systems onboard were becoming obsolete.
Supply chains were put under pressure towards the end of 2021 when the Aratere needed to go to Sydney for dry dock work, leaving just one Interislander ferry to service the Cook Strait.
The Interislander ferry Aratere has a long history of problems. Photo / Mark Mitchell
KiwiRail made the decision to lease an additional ferry called the Valentine to carry freight and help shore up the link between the north and south islands.
But all was not well with the Aratere when it returned from Sydney. Within the space of two weeks, it was affected by a fault that caused abnormal vibrations and then a mechanical issue.
The woes continued into 2022 when even the weather wasn’t on the side of the ferries. The Aratere required more work in Sydney but was delayed by a large storm and was unable to return to New Zealand in time for Easter weekend.
Passengers and freight were affected, including about 5000 passengers with vehicles.
One in five sailings ended up being cancelled in the 2022 financial year. A third departed late, meaning they did not leave within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, and a quarter of arrivals were also late.
Later that year, the Interislander’s passenger service was back down to one ship.
Even before all of those problems, there were others. In 2013, the Aratere lost a propeller during a Cook Strait crossing and the ferry was knocked out of action for seven weeks.
Earlier that year, a computer problem affecting the propulsion also took it out of action, and engine problems put a stop to passenger sailings for more than a week in 2011.
But these problems were not as frightening as the Kaitaki’s mayday, a ferry which has widely been considered the most reliable of the original three up until now.
What I would like to know is whether the failure in the engine cooling system, which caused the ferry to lose power, relates to the fact the fleet is ageing or is a different problem entirely.
On this question, Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook said KiwiRail did not want to prejudge the result of an ongoing investigation.
But KiwiRail has re-examined all the critical safety systems on its ferries and is reviewing maintenance procedures as a result of the Kaitaki incident. As of the end of last week, that review was yet to be completed.
Rushbrook said there was a budget and an investment plan to keep the ships safe and operational until they are decommissioned and two new mega ferries are brought into service. The first of these is due to arrive in 2025.
He stressed the ferry was also subject to independent audits by Maritime New Zealand and Class Authorities.
I believe Rushbrook when he says the Kaitaki wouldn’t be sailing unless KiwiRail thought it was safe to do so.
Regardless, I have been left feeling a little on edge about making a trip on the ferries.
Given their track record and the often challenging conditions in Cook Strait, I remain sceptical about the ferries’ ability to make it through the next two years until their replacements arrive.
I wouldn’t blame people if they felt Bluebridge was a more reliable option in the meantime.
• Senior Wellington journalist Georgina Campbell’s fortnightly column looks closely at issues in the capital.
