KiwiRail has been sentenced and fined $432,500 over the January 2023 incident which saw its Interislander Kaitaki ferry lose propulsion near the end of its journey to Wellington with more than 800 passengers onboard.
It resulted in mayday and passengers were called to muster as lifejackets were supplied to those on board.
The ferry then re-gained limited power, and made its way to port in Wellington, where its passengers were able to safely disembark and come ashore.
At the time, there were strong southerly winds, with gusts of up to 45 knots and swells of three metres around the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
If the anchors didn’t hold, the vessel could have grounded at Sinclair Head.
The incident was caused by a failure of a rubber expansion joint. This resulted in the Kaitaki’s main engine shutting down, leaving the ferry adrift.
Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett says it was a very dangerous incident, and it is good to see KiwiRail take accountability by pleading guilty.
“There were significant failings that caused the ferry to lose power. Poorly managed maintenance and processes on the Kaitaki meant its passengers, crew and the environment were put at risk.
“All operators need to ensure their vessels are well maintained, regularly serviced and properly managed.
“This is an alarming example of what can go wrong when maintenance is poorly managed.
“We have been clear to KiwiRail about our expectations around the management of its fleet, and KiwiRail has undertaken significant work since,” Hewlett says.
Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay says the failure should never have happened.
“It’s pretty clear that this is a failure by KiwiRail to do some basic maintenance. They’ve copped that and so they should.
“But you can’t look at this without the bigger picture. This is critical infrastructure that is ageing out and has been underfunded by successive governments for years.
“As far as MUNZ is concerned the last government’s plan to replace this fleet with the iRex project was already coming later than it should have.
“The cancellation of the new ferry deal by Finance Minister Nicola Willis has put us back to square one at massive expense to the taxpayer. It’s gross negligence.
“The Government must provide a plan and a timeline for safe, publicly owned and rail enabled ferries as soon as possible,” Findlay says.
