COOK Strait ferry operators KiwiRail and StraitNZ have undertaken to maintain services ‘for now’ between Wellington and Picton, regardless of soaring fuel costs.
The pledge comes as Air New Zealand, Jetstar and other airlines curtail regional flights with some local and international destinations, such as NZ-Samoa, abandoned.
However, the ferry companies’ assurances may seem ironic given both operators’ schedules have recently been severely disrupted by technical problems with their ro-paxes.
StraitNZ (Bluebridge)’s Connemara has yet to resumed service after suffering technical issues at Picton last Saturday [21 March], resulting in the cancelation of that day’s sailings and the return of the vessel, empty to Wellington. Each subsequent twice-daily sailing was cancelled, leaving the company with one operational vessel and customers increasingly frustrated.
This morning [26 March] Bluebridge announced further Connemara cancellations for today and tomorrow. It has not disclosed the nature of problem but says sailings are cancelled while the ship awaits regulatory requirements to resume service.
KiwiRail was also down to a single-ship service for over a week when Kaiārahi was forced to cancel sailings from 7 March while technical problems were diagnosed and then replacement parts sourced from overseas.
As of 25 March NZ had fuel reserves equivalent to several weeks of supply, including roughly 48.7 days of petrol, 46.4 days of diesel and 46.9 days of jet fuel with only two tankers expected to arrive in the country in the next fortnight
Meanwhile, KiwiRail’s former rail/ro-pax Aratare, withdrawn last August and sold to UAE intermediaries with an on-sale to Indian breakers, remains at anchor off Nelson but is expected to berth later this week for crw change and re-provisioning.
Renamed Vega under the St Kitts & Nevis flagged vessel has drawn the consternation of unions and MNZ over conditions onboard for the crew who, it has been claimed, are underpaid and isolated. MNZ inspectors last visited the ship in February and are planning to do so again when it berths
Maritime Union New Zealand officials are also seeking permission to board to check on the crew’s welfare and payment situation.
Vega’s much delayed departure for India is said to be due to import paperwork issues.