Interisland ferry issues many, varied

One in five Interislander ferries were cancelled in the last year and a third of services departed late in what has been called a ‘‘horror run’’, Georgina Campbell writes.

FERRIES provide a critical link across Cook Strait, but KiwiRail’s ageing and increasingly unreliable fleet has laid bare how fragile that connection is.

One in five sailings was 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.

The figures, obtained by National transport spokesman Simeon Brown, show it is by far the worst year for the ferries in the past five years.

Other documents released under the Official Information Act paint a picture of a service under pressure, which disrupted 5000 passengers with vehicles over the Easter break.

Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook said it has been an ‘‘incredibly challenging’’ time, with the impact of Covid19 and

Kaiarahi having an unexpected catastrophic failure.

He said the reliability figures did not recognise the fact the majority of customers were accommodated on later sailings.

But after a year of difficulty, there is now hope on the horizon.

Kaiarahi will resume sailings today after being out of action since August 2021 and the Interislander fleet will be back to its usual capacity in time for the summer holidays.

The fleet has been one ferry short after Kaiarahi had a gearbox failure last year.

The decision was made to lease

Valentine, which arrived in December, to maintain the supply link between the North Island and South Island while

Kaiarahi was out of action.

Reports from KiwiRail to Transport Minister Michael Wood this year paint a picture of a service under pressure between crew shortages, faults, delays and wild weather.

A report from March said 55 crew members had been affected by Covid19 and it was no longer tenable to maintain a normal sailing schedule.

Up until that point, Omicron had been managed with reasonable success through staff taking on extra shifts and moving between ships to fill gaps in crews.

Mr Rushbrook said many staff were highly skilled and their presence was required for a ship to sail, so just one person being absent due to Covid19 from a crew of 50 could prevent a service from going ahead.

Later in March KiwiRail reported to the minister that 22 sailings ended up being cancelled due to the virus.

Aratere was also scheduled to go to Sydney for dry work, making for tighter but manageable capacity.

Aratere was then delayed by a large storm over New South Wales and was unable to return in time for Easter weekend.

Freight and about 5000 passengers with vehicles were affected.

Sailings were at near capacity and nonurgent freight was removed from one ferry to free up more space.

To make things worse, one of the Bluebridge ferries was also out of service during this long weekend.

KiwiRail also reported temporary freight constraints because not enough staff were available to run a daily service on Valentine.

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said it has been a ‘‘horror run’’ for KiwiRail, as trucks were stranded on either side of the Cook Strait.

‘‘If you have a truck waiting and not delivering on time, it costs money for our industry.

‘‘It also will often cost money for the customer and will slow down something happening and that directly impacts New Zealand’s productivity.’’

Mr Leggett said the most frustrated calls he received were from people transporting live animals, produce or meat.

One large carrier of perishable products Mr Leggett has spoken to said

Valentine was ‘‘a dog’’ and did not meet the requirements of the trucking industry.

Mr Rushbrook said Valentine was the best they could find under the circumstances.

In May, KiwiRail reported to the minister that its two remaining passenger ferries had experienced minor technical issues within the previous fortnight.

An electrical fault caused a problem with Kaitaki’s steering gear and Aratere had a problem with its grey water systems, which had become blocked.

The problems resulted in sailings being cancelled.

In early July it was reported

Valentine had undergone ‘‘substantial’’ repairs and improvements.

But bearings for Kaiarahi repairs were delayed, leaving the Interislander with just one passenger ship to service Cook Strait over two months.

This was because Aratere had to go back to Sydney for more work.

Then Kaitaki was off for essential repairs and maintenance, which could not be delayed.

National transport spokesman Simeon Brown said the Interislander’s unreliability over the past year was adding significant costs to businesses and people who depended on the connection.

Last year KiwiRail announced a

$551 million contract had been signed off for two new railenabled megaferries to service the Cook Strait.

They can carry twice as many passengers and significantly more freight to meet expected growth over the next 30 years.

Mr Brown acknowledged this, but said the current priority should be ensuring the existing services were at least reliable and running to schedule.

There will be four operational ferries in the fleet, when Kaitaki returns from essential repairs and maintenance, in time for the summer holidays. — The