The 2023 breakdown of the Kaitaki shows the need for emergency open ocean tugs, say councils. Photo: KiwiRail
Emergency open ocean tugs for Cook Strait could be one step closer, after calls from local government for the boats.
There have been notable near miss events in the stretch of water between the North and South Islands over the past few years.
One of these was in January 2023 when the Interislander ferry Kaitaki was sailing into Wellington Harbour with 854 passengers on board and lost power, which resulted in a mayday call.
In the subsequent years, both the Marlborough District Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council have called for open ocean tugs for the Cook Strait, capable of dealing with large boats breaking down in the open ocean.
In last year's budget, cabinet agreed to put aside $600,000 to fund a business case to explore options and costs for emergency towing capability with a particular focus on the Cook Strait.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop confirmed to RNZ that as part of that work, Maritime NZ had received expressions of interest relating to possible emergency towing options.
"Work around the business case for emergency towage is ongoing. As part of that work a request for information was sent to a range of interested parties.
"Maritime NZ has received information and are working through analysing it."
Bishop said he would be updated in due course by Maritime NZ officials around the progress of the business case, including the expressions of interest.
It comes after RNZ reported in October that the former Transport Minister Simeon Brown accepted a meeting with Greater Wellington Regional Council over concerns that CentrePort's harbour tugs were being stretched beyond their capability.
"We have responded to the incidents to date, but we are responding to events and investing into assets beyond our remit."
The regional council and port felt that responding to these marine accidents it created the risk of disruption to their business.
These risks included stopping port operations whilst tugs were responding to an event, potentially closing their port if tugs were damaged and delaying work to allow staff to rest after an incident.
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