The Aratere aground in the Marlborough Sounds. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Labour Party says Finance Minister Nicola Willis has yet to explain what the plan will be for Interislander ferries after cancelling the contract for new ferries commissioned by the previous government.
An Interislander ferry ran aground about 10pm Friday due to an apparent steering failure on a freight-only sailing.
Another Interislander ferry, the 26-year-old Kaiarahi, was out of service until 3 July. Only one ferry, Kaitaki, was operating in the meantime.
The Aratere ferry was refloated on Saturday night on the high tide and returned to its berth in Picton on Sunday evening.
On Sunday, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said divers checked the hull and found it was still water tight, and there appeared to be minimal damage to the vessel.
The Council of Trade Unions is now calling for the government to reverse its decision to cancel the build of two purpose-built ferries, originally commissioned by the previous government.
Willis cancelled the contract for new ferries after the budget blew out to nearly $3 billion, saying "the option that KiwiRail has had on the table, is the equivalent of the Ferrari, and now we're going to go off and see whether there are any good reliable Toyota Corollas available".
KiwiRail had requested an additional $1.47b, a component of which had been agreed to in-principle by the previous government, to address cost escalations related to associated harbourside infrastructure in Wellington and Picton, including to accommodate new larger ferries.
The project was set to deliver two rail-enabled ferries by 2026, but construction had not yet started on those.
The Aratere ferry docking in Picton. Photo: Stuff/Maia Hart
Labour's transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere told First Up the finance minister was "dragging her feet" in making a decision.
When announcing the decision to cancel the contract, Willis said ministers would engage with the KiwiRail board and officials about alternative options.
"We still wait for the government to tell us what plan B is going to be," Utikere said.
"We had plan B which was basically locked in $551 million for two ferries back in 2021. Now we know that the price of that build has significantly increased since then, so locking it in at $551m was a pretty good deal and up to the election we had been working as a government with KiwiRail on a sustainable option and it was then over to the new government to take over.
"It is regrettable that the amount of money that has been invested up to this point will unfortunately be lost."
Work on a plan is progressing with urgency, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has said the final report from an expert ministerial advisory group with options on replacing the ferries had been given to shareholding ministers. He said the work was progressing with urgency and ministers would take recommendations to Cabinet.
Days before the Aratere's accident, Brown raised concerns about KiwiRail's maintenance of its fleet at a meeting of the transport and infrastructure committee.
"We also want KiwiRail to make sure they're maintaining their existing boats to the appropriate standards, which has been a significant issue that we've been highly unimpressed with coming into government," Brown said.
KiwiRail had been improving their maintenance protocols significantly from the "poor" processes it had in the last few years, he said.
This was partially due to KiwiRail having the importance of well-maintained Cook Strait ferries being highlighted to them.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said his government had been having a conversation with KiwiRail about how it could bring down the cost of the land-side infrastructure and the current governmment was right in doing so.
The purchase price his government secured for the new ferries was very competitive and the government's decision to cancel this contract would not only add years to the project but "almost certainly will add cost".
Health and safety issues a concern - union
The Maritime Union has raised concerns about its workers potentially being put in danger on Friday night, saying crew should not be expected to work on vessels that are continuously having problems
Executive general manager Duncan Roy told Morning Report that Interislander takes safety seriously and had put many measures in place over the past year.
There were 39 crew members on board the freight sailing went it ran aground. No one was injured.
They spent the night on board before returning to land on Saturday morning.
Maritime Union spokesperson Victor Billot said union members on the ship did their job "under pretty difficult circumstances" and the union was very concerned about health and safety issues.
"Obviously the crew will continue to do their jobs and workers are professionals but they shouldn't be expected to work on vessels that are continuously having problems and the reality is, if this Aratere situation had happened in different circumstances, the outcome could have been a lot worse."
Billot said anyone could see there were ongoing maintenance issues.
"The reality is it's a patch up job," he said.
Roy said he was yet to speak to those who were steering the ship at the time but when the crew realised what was happening, it put the engines in reverse, causing a slow grounding without damage.
"It all happened pretty quickly."
A brand new steering system was installed a month ago, he said and the equipment manufacturer came to New Zealand to take people through training.
"We take safety pretty carefully ... the maintenance we've been putting in the last six months, a year ago we really completely changed how we look at asset management, we brought in new people, we've allocated extra resources, we've taken the ships offline [to] give it longer time to do maintenance and this disappointing incident notwithstanding, our performance for reliability and safety, have been really good the last six months."
National Road Carriers Association general manager of policy and advocacy James Smith told Morning Report the freight industry was resilient and would find a way to get through.
The industry had been in this position before and while it will have an impact, it would be more significant "if the economy had of been functioning".
In a recession, freight volumes are lower than usual, he said.
A detention order has now been placed on the stricken ferry - barring it from movement due to safety concerns.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission and Maritime New Zealand will begin their investigations into what caused the vessel to run aground.
