Maritime NZ has filed one charge against KiwiRail in relation to the January 2023 incident in which one of its Interislander ferries lost propulsion.
The Kaitaki lost power on its approach into Wellington Harbour on January 28 last year, with more than 800 passengers and 80 crew on-board. It then issued a mayday.
After regaining limited power, the ferry made its way to port where its passengers were able to safely leave it and come ashore.
Maritime NZ, the maritime and designated health and safety regulator for such incidents, investigated the loss of power incident. It has filed one charge against the operator, KiwiRail, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
“The investigation took 12 months; it involved reviewing the operator’s organisational information relevant to processes and procedures connected to safety and maintenance management, undertaking interviews and examining the Kaitaki after the incident occurred,” Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett says.
“Material was then comprehensively reviewed before the decision was made to prosecute,” she says.
As the matter is now before the courts, Maritime NZ says it cannot make any further comments about the ongoing proceedings.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy says “the safe and reliable operation of the Interislander service is an absolutely non-negotiable requirement for KiwiRail board and management”.
“Following the Kaitaki incident, we conducted a full review of all of our asset management practices, using global experts to ensure we are running the Interislander to world’s best practice standards.
“We are pleased that over the recent busy Christmas period the Interislander ferries have operated with 100 per cent asset reliability and 91.4 per cent on-time performance.
“For comparison, these are levels matching even the best operators in the global aviation industry.
“As this matter is now before the Courts, it is not appropriate for us to make any further comment on the prosecution,” Reidy says.
