Statement on Kaitaki ferry engine failure

The Mar­itime Union says the engine fail­ure of the inter­is­land fer­ry Kaita­ki on Sat­ur­day 28 Jan­u­ary is con­cern­ing for crew aboard the ship.

The ship drift­ed in high winds off the south coast of Welling­ton after los­ing engine pow­er, before mov­ing into shal­low­er water where its anchors could catch.

Mar­itime Union Nation­al Sec­re­tary Craig Har­ri­son says find­ing out the cause of the fail­ure is a pri­or­i­ty.

Mr Har­ri­son says the actions of the Cap­tain and crew of the Kaita­ki were com­mend­able in man­ag­ing the sit­u­a­tion.

“As not­ed by Trans­port Min­is­ter Michael Wood, the fail­ure of pre­vi­ous Gov­ern­ments to invest in upgrad­ing our inter­is­land fer­ries has led to an age­ing fleet where this kind of prob­lem occurs.”

Mar­itime Union Welling­ton Branch Sec­re­tary Jim King says while con­cern­ing for pas­sen­gers, crew are well trained for such events and act­ed in a pro­fes­sion­al man­ner.

Mr King says KiwiRail have tak­en a proac­tive response to the issue and have kept crew informed of devel­op­ments.

Two new, cus­tom-built inter island fer­ries are on order by KiwiRail but the first ves­sel will not be in ser­vice until 2025.

Sea­far­ers (deck crew and cater­ing staff) aboard the Kaita­ki and oth­er inter­is­land fer­ries are mem­bers of the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand.