Cooker cooked again

KIWIRAIL’s Interislander Line is once more down to a single ferry on Cook Strait after a technical problem detected last weekend now cannot be resolved before next weekend.

Kaiārahi sailings were first cancelled on Saturday [7 March] due to the detection of the unnamed intermittent technical fault as the vessel berthed at Wellington. Engineers carried out investigations, repairs and sea trials and  Kaiārahi  resumed service briefly on Tuesday before the fault recurred during an evening arrival at Picton.

The ship then returned to Wellington in freight-only mode and, with the cause of the problem identified, replacement parts were ordered grom overseas.

In a service alert issued last night KiwiRail told customers sailings for the remainder of the week have been cancelled as a precaution following the identification of the cause of the intermittent technical fault.

“A replacement spare part is expected to arrive on Friday 15 March. It will then be installed and tested and we anticipate Kaiārahi returning to service by the end of the weekend,” KiwiRail said.

The company had already warned that January, February and March are peak season for Interisland and many sailings were booked out. With only Kaitaki still in service, the company said “We’re very sorry for the ongoing disruption this issue has caused to our customers.

“Affected customers are being contacted directly and rebooked onto alternative sailings. If a new sailing is not suitable, passengers can change to another available sailing or request a full refund. Please note that capacity is currently very limited.”

Meanwhile, freedom-of-information applications by The Post have revealed the Ferry Holdings Ltd replacement ferry program is already over budget, and that’s without finalisation of costs and arrangements at terminal ports Wellington and Picton.

“The current cost estimate has hit NZ$1.867 billion, already exceeding the $1.7b Crown-tagged contingency approved by Cabinet in March 2025.

“The Government is relying on council-owned ports to plug the gap, but the amounts are unknown or not yet approved by ratepayers,” the publication reported. The government says the figures are inaccurate.

FHL was established by the NZ Government to take over the procurement of the new ferries after it forced KiwiRail to abandon the iReX project in December 2023 due to cost overruns. The new Chinese-built rail/ro-paxes are now not due to enter service until 2029.

Separately, last week KiwiRail announced director Scott O’Donnell had resigned after only two years on the board “as a new venture will require him to spend more time in Australia”.

The appointment of Mr O’Donnell, the managing director of HW Richardson Group, a large-scale transport, concrete, quarrying, environmental business based in Southland, was criticised at the time due to potential conflicts of interest across a wide range of KiwiRail’s activities.