Yesterday, it looked like it was going to be impossible to get someone from KiwRail, the Interislander or the Government to agree to our requests for an interview this morning about the grounding of the Aratere, the Interislander ferry that ran aground on the South Island Coast line about 2.8 km north of Picton on Friday night.  

 Not hugely surprising. Understandably the consequences of this steering failure are complicated, potential vast, and keeping them busy – from ensuring the safety and then removal of those on board, the technical challenges of re-floating the ferry, monitoring the potential environmental damage, and no doubt fielding unhelpful calls from those you’re accountable to.  

Last night Interislander General Manager Duncan Roy agreed to talk to us this morning, which we appreciate.  

But let’s speak plainly. Pictures of the Aratere sitting nestled under the cliffs of Tītoki Bay is a PR nightmare for all involved. There are no winners in this situation, and it tops off a pretty crappy week when it comes to asset maintenance. We can’t fly our Prime Minister to a meeting in Japan either, and all it took was one power tower to tumble to knock the power out in Northland. Honestly, what next? 

The Government scrapped the mega ferries plan due to a blow out in landside infrastructure costs, the pressure has been on the government to offer another solution. A Ministerial Advisory Group was put in place in February to consider the future of the Cook Strait service. The Government is assuring us they’re committed to new ships, but they will be kicking themselves that a plan hadn’t been settled before this incident.  

In a press conference yesterday afternoon, the buck was passed pretty quickly, with Transport Minister Simeon Brown making it very clear the onus was on KiwiRail to make sure they’re maintaining their ships, and on Martine New Zealand’s to make sure they do so.  

And he is right. Regardless of what plan was or will be in place to replace the current ferries – the Aratere would have been sailing on Friday, and for many more Friday’s to come. Keeping the fleet operational is imperative until replacements have been delivered.  

But there’s no doubt this will bring renewed pressure back on the Government to get new vessels and new port infrastructure underway. The number of incidents tells us all we need to know. SH1 over the Cook Strait is unreliable, it’s disruptive to businesses and freight service, and it feels we’re just one more incident away from a disaster with a much more serious outcome.  

In the meantime, well done to everyone involved in re-floating the Aratere last night without incident. Job well done – let’s hope you don’t have to do it again. 

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