People stuck in lift during ferry mayday
An adult and two children were trapped in an Interislander lift for at least half an hour when the Kaitaki ferry lost power in Cook Strait on Saturday night and wind pushed it towards Wellington’s south coast.
A total of 864 people were on board the Kaitaki when the ship issued a mayday call after the cooling system that powered all four engines failed at 4.55pm.
Passengers, due to arrive in the capital 50 minutes later, were handed lifejackets.
But the lifts were not linked to the backup generator, Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook confirmed. So while lights, air-conditioning and fridges came back on shortly after the breakdown, three people were trapped in a lift for 30-45 minutes, Rushbrook said.
‘‘They were freed after the lift was manually wound until it was flush with the floor and the doors were manually opened.’’
Asked if the trio were in darkness, Rushbrook said yes, then added there may have been some emergency lighting. The lift also had an alarm button and telephone, he confirmed. ‘‘We were able to communicate with them because they were just through the other side of the door. We recognise that this was extremely unsettling for those involved, and a senior crew member ensured they remained as comfortable as possible for the remainder of the journey.’’ He was not aware of any others who were trapped in confined spaces.
KiwiRail, which owns Interislander ferries, is still investigating the incident. Rushbrook said that included speaking to passengers who were trapped.
Kaitaki remains under orders from Maritime NZ to carry only freight while an investigation is carried out. The ferry sailed into Cook Strait yesterday for more ongoing stress testing: ‘‘It is just part of bringing that assurance that it is safe to continue use.’’
Part of that would be assessing whether enhancements were needed to the ship’s cooling system to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s incident, Rushbrook said. The current procedure relied on engineers finding the fault and isolating it, having ‘‘spare parts on hand’’ and getting the system back up and running as quickly as possible. ‘‘We have had independent checks taken. We have undertaken sea trials ... I guess our customers can have the assurance those independent checks are up to high standards and it is not just us setting our homework and marking it.’’
Two new, custom-built ferries are on order for KiwiRail but the first vessel will not be running until 2025. In the meantime, Rushbrook was confident lifeboats would have been able to get passengers to shore safely had they been forced to abandon the ship.
‘‘That is rigorously tested. We maintain the lifeboats. We do drills very regularly – in fact we take the ship off the run and ensure the staff and crew know how to operate them and see them working.’’ Drills were also independently reviewed and checked as part of Maritime NZ safety requirements, he said.
Rushbrook said the company ‘‘had apologised and would continue to do so’’ over the incident and ongoing disruptions. ‘‘We are working our hardest at the moment to get back to normal as soon as possible.’’
Unlike airlines, the Interislander did not have a formal standby system that allowed last-minute passengers to be accommodated if others fail to show. The current booking system did not have that ability, Rushbrook said.
If there are free spaces towards the end of loading, they are offered to other customers who are already on site. ‘‘As we cannot predict how many cars or trucks will cancel or not turn up, this is managed on a case-by-case basis.’’