A report into the state of Interislander’s ferry fleet has found they can safely operate for another five years – if regular maintenance and upgrade work is completed.
“From an asset management perspective this gives us confidence that the changes we’ve made in the last year, the amount of time, effort, and money and resources putting into our ships is trending in totally in the right direction,” Interislander general manager Duncan Roy said.
Consultants from Norwegian maritime firm DNV were called in to assess KiwiRail’s three Cook Strait ferries after one of the vessels – Kaitaki – lost power in Cook Strait in January 2023.
DNV was then asked to assess the lifespan of the ships this year after the Government cancelled KiwiRail’s iReX project to upgrade port infrastructure and buy two “mega ferries”.
Roy said in a statement KiwiRail asked DNV to determine if the ships could operate for another five years, because that is enough time for “alternative solutions” and is realistic for the life expectancy of the ageing fleet.
KiwiRail today released a summary of the DNV report – but not the full document – to 1News and other media following requests under the Official Information Act.
Roy said DNV submitted their report earlier this month and had found the ferries were in a better state than previously thought.
That meant the ferries could run reliably beyond 2026 with additional maintenance, according to the report.
“It found the three vessels have been well maintained. While the ferries are ageing, it has concluded it is possible to keep the three vessels running at least until 2029,“ Roy said.
The report found the hulls of the three vessels to be a particularly good condition for their age and Interislander said this was due to them not sailing in very heavy seas.
Maritime Union of New Zealand’s National Secretary Carl Findlay remains concerned about the safety risks posed by the fleet for the crew it represents.
“There is a real history of technical issues and there’s been some very serious incidences, that doesn’t really fill us with confidence,” Findlay said.
He said he wanted to see health and safety and crew welfare examined.
“They really need to have a rescue plan put in place for if something does go wrong that they’re ready to react immediately to give the workers working on that vessel encouragement that they’re not going to be left out there wondering what’s happening next.”
“The reaction time needs to be a lot better than it has been, in my view.”
Findlay said the Government cancelling the iReX project has left KiwiRail in an “impossible” position with an announcement on replacement ferries required urgently.
“This is a key piece of New Zealand infrastructure that they’ve just been left, sitting out there, twiddling their thumbs wondering what’s going to happen next and we need an answer now to get this sorted.
“This is a very serious issue if something goes wrong with these ageing ferries”
The Kaitaki incident in early 2023 is one of a number of safety-related incidents involving the ferries in recent years.
Norwegian advisers called in by the company have found the ferries can operate until 2029.
Last month, the Aratere grounded near Picton, with a leaked staff memo saying a button on the autopilot system was “inadvertently pressed”, sending the vessel off course.
The DNV report is likely to be closed studied by the Government as it considers what ferries should be commissioned for the Cook Strait.
Costs for the iReX project had blown out from original estimates, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis saying it was prudent to reconsider the plan given its costs had nearly quadrupled to more than $3 billion.
The report summary provided today by Kiwirail showed DNV was also asked to assess what was needed to keep the ships running safely till 2029.
The summary says there are no systemic issues preventing Interislander meeting this timeline – “provided Interislander continues to follow regular on-going preventative and corrective maintenance, necessary upgrades and replacement of equipment”.
DNV assessed the hull condition of the fleet as “good” and found the vessels had a low hull fatigue age, given all of them were built in the 1990s.
The ships’ actual ages in 2029 will range from 31 to 34 years old, but the projected hull ages will be 6.9 to 11.1 years old.
“The result of DNVs study is a very positive sign. We will need new ferries, but the assessor’s findings mean that we can continue delivering reliable services for passengers and our freight customers until new ferries are built and arrive,” Roy said in a press release.
KiwiRail said, with DNV’s new assessment, it will update asset management plans and seek additional funding for maintenance – with proposed spending of nearly $36 million annually until 2029.
In rejecting requests under the OIA to release the full reports done by DNV, KiwiRail said they were commercially sensitive and comprehensive and detailed enough to make it impractical to prepare them for release.