COOK Strait rail/ro-pax Aratere resumed service yesterday afternoon [11 August] after the Interisland Line curse struck again on Thursday afternoon.
The ferry hit the terminal linkspan as it was berthing in high winds, deeply denting hull plating above the waterline at the vessel’s stern.
It was immediately withdrawn from service pending repairs involving the insertion of new plating, while Wellington port company CentrePort said it was “proactively inspecting the linkspan and associated structures from a boat, and underwater, to identify any possible non-visible damage”.
KiwiRail said no one was injured and there was no danger to the ship, passengers or the environment as a result of this incident.
Interisland Line had already been forced to cancel Aratere sailings earlier last week after problems with a pump were detected during pre-departure checks.
Maritime New Zealand said it was investigating the latest incident involving Aratere, which came just weeks after the vessel resumed service following its steering failure and subsequent grounding when departing Picton on 21 June.
The NZ Government has yet to make public the findings of its independent Ministerial Advisory Group into recommended replacements for the three aging Interislander ferries which, consultants DNV found, can be sustained for another five years with appropriate heightened maintenance.
Meanwhile, Kaitaki departed Wellington last Monday [5 August] for an extended, two-month drydocking in Singapore.
