Serious concerns over Aratere ferry removal

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) is express­ing seri­ous con­cern fol­low­ing the announce­ment that the Inter­is­lander fer­ry Aratere is being removed from ser­vice indef­i­nite­ly.

The Union says the loss of the rail-enabled Aratere, a cru­cial link between the North and South Islands, sig­nif­i­cant­ly weak­ens the resilience of New Zealand’s nation­al sup­ply chain.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says the sit­u­a­tion high­lights the ongo­ing con­se­quences of Finance Min­is­ter Nico­la Willis’s deci­sion to can­cel the iReX project.

Mr Find­lay says the Mar­itime Union will be engag­ing in a con­sul­ta­tion process with KiwiRail and will be seek­ing no or min­i­mal job loss­es for fer­ry crew.

“MUNZ will be work­ing to ensure our mem­bers’ futures are pro­tect­ed dur­ing this peri­od of insta­bil­i­ty caused by poor plan­ning and can­celled invest­ment by Ms Willis.”

Mr Find­lay says the announce­ment is caus­ing con­cern for mar­itime work­ers, trans­port oper­a­tors, and the New Zealand pub­lic.

“The removal of the Aratere is anoth­er blow to the reli­a­bil­i­ty of the Cook Strait cross­ing, a sit­u­a­tion entire­ly pre­dictable after the can­cel­la­tion of the iReX project,” says Mr Find­lay.

“We con­sis­tent­ly warned about the fragili­ty of the age­ing fer­ry fleet. Finance Min­is­ter Nico­la Willis’s deci­sion to scrap the plan for new, pur­pose-built fer­ries has left New Zealand reliant on old­er ves­sels prone to fail­ure. Los­ing the Aratere, espe­cial­ly its rail freight capa­bil­i­ty, puts immense pres­sure on the remain­ing ves­sels and the entire trans­port net­work.”

Mr Find­lay says the Mar­itime Union sup­port­ed Min­is­ter of Rail Hon. Win­ston Peters work to get a new deal for rail-enabled fer­ries.

But he says the removal of the Aratere now leaves a major gap for a num­ber of years until the new fer­ries are in ser­vice.