The Interislander ferry Aratere has been successfully refloated nearly 24 hours after running aground in Picton Harbour, stranding almost 50 people overnight.
A collaborative effort led by KiwiRail, along with global experts, Maritime NZ, Port Marlborough, and local authorities, achieved the refloatation at around 9pm. The ferry will remain anchored in Picton Harbour overnight for re-ballasting and stabilization before returning to Picton Wharf for a hull examination. Investigations into the grounding are being conducted by Maritime NZ, TAIC, and KiwiRail, with the Aratere to be placed under a detention order for safety assessments.
The incident, which occurred just after 10pm on Friday, left 47 people, including eight commercial truck drivers and 39 crew members, stranded on the vessel. Although the crew and passengers were safe, the grounding highlighted likely issues with the ferry’s recently upgraded steering system.
Congratulations to those that have worked so hard to rescue the Aratere which is now off the beach and being towed to a safe anchorage. pic.twitter.com/C90L129Xgl
— Stuart Smith (@stuartsmithmp) June 22, 2024
The person who takes it upon themselves to give clearance that this vessel is in fact seaworthy and fit to resume service will have a heavy weight on his/her shoulders
I hope they pick a strong, diverse, whamen of culuh’ to make the call instead of someone from a maritime engineering background with decades of experience.
Someone from Boeing maybe?
Like has been said if that hull has been stressed you will not be able to detect it
The whole mid-section was unsupported
Let’s hope it doesn’t ‘open-up’ at some ungodly hour in some ungodly place
Procol Harum – A Salty Dog – Classic Album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCv1a8AUJo
You can just about smell the salt air
Enjoy (Browsing Music)
And now it’s supposed to take a year to put the damn thing back into service???
Quite frankly, I think the next sailing for the entire Toll Interislander Line should be a nice sunny beach in India for the purpose of scrapping! Too much money has been spent on a dying fleet of ragged boats!
Back in 2015 I wrote a letter to Parliament suggesting that a partial land bridge be constructed of earthen materials between the tow narrowest points between North & South Island, with a 1/2 kilometer bridge spanning the remaining gap to allow for vessel passage and tidal flows.
That bridge would have 4 lanes plus a rail line, and would have been built using earthquake resistant technologies.
https://materialdistrict.com/article/earthquake-resistant-bridge-flexible-materials/
Had this been started 8-10 years ago, completion would soon be nearing it’s grand finale’, and the ferries would go by the wayside for the most part.
To offset the cost of construction, there would have to be a toll imposed for the crossing, which would generate more revenue to pay for the project retroactively, and even if the toll was $20 per car, $40 per lorrie, it’s still less expensive than a ferry fee.
Such a partial land bridge would make enemy submarines easier to detect due to the narrowing of the Cook Strait, similar to the U-Boat difficulties due to detection when passing thru the Strait of Gibralter…
Of course, I never heard back from our ‘(s)elected Reps’ with the idea…guess there weren’t enough Old Boys available for the construction contracts with blended kick-backs!
President Putin had the Kherson Bridge built in 18 months, so if the Old Boys can’t landfill and bridge-built 1/2 a kilometer of bridge span, maybe Russia could, for 1/3rd the cost that would otherwise be imposed by the Old Boy Networks here in New Zealand!!!