ARATERE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Aratere to be retired no later than end of August

KiwiRail has confirmed that the 'Aratere' will be retiring no later than Aug 30 after it was revealed at the end of April that the ferry would be pulled from service on the Cook Strait this year, to make way for the required Picton port re-development in preparation for the two brand-new Cook Strait ferries arriving in 2029. Work on Picton wharf could begin as soon as October, and no later than March 2026. The vessel, which had served the Cook Strait since 1999, required specific loading and unloading infrastructure so it could not use the other Interislander wharf in Picton. KiwiRail has talked to customers and has confirmed a new two-ship timetable and coordinating rail timetable, as well as developing a plan for road bridging during the transition to the new rail-enabled ships. More than 2200 passenger bookings have now been transferred from the 'Aratere' to the 'Kaitaki' and 'Kaiārahi'. If replacement bookings do not suit customers, they can change their booking without any change fee or receive a full refund. Holders of more than 2500 passenger bookings affected by a change in departure time with the move to the new two-ship timetable have also been notified of their new departure time. Freight customers will be contacted from May 20 to lock in their freight requirements.

Ferry suffered electrical fault

Two scheduled sailings of the 'Aratere' have been cancelled due to an electrical fault on April 22, 2024. The 4 p.m. crossing from Wellington to Picton and the return journey scheduled for 8.50 p.m. ave been cancelled to give engineers time to fix the fault in a hydraulic pump. Affected passengers were being moved to the next sailings, which have space available.

Interim report into grounding published

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission on Oct 31 issued its interim report into the grounding of the 'Aratere' in June. Its full and final report is expected to be months off. Key to the grounding was a new steering system installed in the ship which could not be disengaged after a button was pushed 36 seconds past a way point, meaning the autopilot clicked on to a later way point and thought it was time to turn right. Instead, under autopilot, the vessel turned beachwards 1.28 nautical miles early, and for two minutes and six seconds the crew were unable to wrestle back of the ship from autopilot. When they did, it was too late and the ship was just seconds from land. The crew did not know they didn't know about two crucial aspects of forcing an override the autopilot: Rudder controls under the new Kronsberg steering system had to align within two degrees and the force takeover button had to be held down for five seconds. Merchant Service Guild vice-President Iain MacLeod said the issue of aligning the rudders was “known” and had happened on other vessels. The crew on the bridge were “highly trained and appropriately certified”, he said. The TAIC interim report said the bridge team were “not aware” of the two checks for override, but Kozhuppakalam and chief commissioner David Clarke said questions about how much, if any, training the crew had in the new system would come out in its final report.