Government Gambling with Safety – keep an Emergency Tug on Cook Strait!

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) is urgent­ly call­ing on the Gov­ern­ment to reverse its deci­sion to ter­mi­nate the con­tract for the MMA Vision, the only ded­i­cat­ed emer­gency ocean response ves­sel cur­rent­ly pro­tect­ing the Cook Strait.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says the recent fail­ure of the Blue­bridge fer­ry Con­nemara, which left 200 pas­sen­gers strand­ed in Welling­ton Har­bour overnight due to a ramp fault, serves as a warn­ing.

He says the Con­nemara ramp fail­ure is anoth­er symp­tom of the ongo­ing fragili­ty of the Cook Strait fer­ry fleet.

This inci­dent fol­lows the Kaiarahi turn­ing back to Welling­ton on Fri­day 12 Decem­ber after expe­ri­enc­ing steer­ing issues in the Cook Strait.

“Whether Blue­bridge or Inter­is­lander, we are see­ing a pat­tern of mechan­i­cal fail­ures in an age­ing fleet pushed to its lim­it.”

The Mar­itime Union says remov­ing the emer­gency tug is a dan­ger­ous gam­ble.

While the Gov­ern­ment has announced new Inter­is­lander fer­ries are being pro­cured, these are not due to arrive until 2029.

“We have a three-year gap where pas­sen­gers and freight are rely­ing on worn-out ships,” says Mr Find­lay.

The MMA Vision, a high-capac­i­ty anchor han­dling tug with a 105-tonne bol­lard pull, was con­tract­ed as an inter­im safe­ty mea­sure fol­low­ing the Kaita­ki may­day call in 2023.

Mr Find­lay says the MMA Vision has already proven its worth by tow­ing the strick­en tanker Gold­en Mind off Stew­art Island and res­cu­ing the ground­ed barge Man­a­hau at West­port.

Despite this track record, the Gov­ern­ment plans to end the MMA Vision con­tract in Feb­ru­ary 2026, months ahead of sched­ule, cit­ing cost sav­ings.

“The Min­is­ter of Trans­port is pri­or­i­tiz­ing cost over safe­ty,” Mr Find­lay says. “We need to know exact­ly what mar­itime advice Trans­port Min­is­ter Chris Bish­op received that jus­ti­fies remov­ing our only ded­i­cat­ed ocean res­cue capa­bil­i­ty while the fer­ry fleet remains in such a pre­car­i­ous state.”

“Sav­ing mon­ey will mean noth­ing if we face a dis­as­ter in the Cook Strait. The Gov­ern­ment must main­tain fund­ing for an emer­gency tug based in Welling­ton.”