Aratere ferry replacement set to make first voyage

The Aratere appears out of the fog on its arrival at Wellington Harbour. Photo / File / Mark Mitchell

Aratere's interim replacement, the Spanish ferry Stena Alegra, is set to make its first passenger sailing on Monday.

The new ferry was ordered from Europe for the busy summer period after the Aratere lost a propeller during a Cook Strait crossing in November.

The Stena Alegra will depart Wellington for Picton on Monday at 5pm.

As a result of the Interislander service being down a ferry, the company was losing about 45 per cent of freight and passenger capacity, Interislander general manager Thomas Davis said earlier.

With the Stena Alegra, the KiwiRail-owned company would recoup about 35 per cent of that business, helping to minimise disruption until the Aratere was back in service.

The Stena Alegra was built in Spain in 1998.

The ship has a passenger capacity of more than 350 and a cargo capacity of about 78 trucks or 325 cars. The passenger capacity of Aratere is 600 and its cargo capacity is 32 rail wagons and 28 trucks.

The Aratere, which recently underwent a $54 million revamp, was expected to be out of service for up to six months.

Mr Davis said throughout the past week, KiwiRail staff had been working to prepare the ship by undertaking berthing trials and loading exercises.

"This morning, we have had further berthing trials at Picton before the ship returns this afternoon carrying freight.

"We had explored the possibility of the ship entering service over the weekend, a little earlier than planned, but following a review of current demand and capacity for freight and passengers have decided not to introduce additional sailings at this late stage."