Maritime Union calls for action on Cook Strait ferries

The Mari­time Uni­on says that it has had enough of cow­boy tac­tics on the Cook Strait after fur­ther rev­el­a­tions of anoth­er poten­tial ferry
ground­ing that was nar­rowly avoided.

The Uni­on is con­cerned about reports the ferry ‘Santa Regina’ was on auto pilot in the Tory Chan­nel on June 9 in breach of Mari­time Safety Author­ity rules.

Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and Wel­ling­ton Sea­farers Branch Pres­id­ent Mike Shakespeare says the latest incid­ent aboard the ‘Santa Regina’
could have ended in dis­aster.

“We can no longer have these type of incid­ents occur­ring that pose a grave threat to the safety of the pub­lic and of our mem­bers.”

He says incid­ents such as this are the res­ult of cost-cut­ting by ferry oper­at­ors in a highly com­pet­it­ive mar­ket.

The Mari­time Uni­on is call­ing for stronger safety reg­u­la­tions and appro­pri­ate crew levels.