Francesca Rudkin: The Aratere incident was a PR nightmare for everyone

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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yesterday, it looked like it was going to be impossible
to get someone from KiwiRail or the inter Islander or
the government to agree to our requests for an interview
this morning about the grounding of the Arraitaria, the inter
Islander fairy that ran aground two point eight kilometers north
of Picton on Friday night. Not hugely surprising, right Understandably,

(00:34):
the consequences of this steering failure are complicated, the potentially
vast and keeping them busy from ensuring the safety and
removal of those on board, the technical challenges of refloating
the fairy, monitoring the potential environmental damage, and no doubt
fielding unhelpful calls from those you're accountable to last night.

(00:54):
Though Into Islander General manager Duncan Roy did agree to
talk to us this morning and he will be with
us shortly, which we appreciate. But let's speak plainly. Pictures
of the Ratari sitting nestled under the cliffs of Tataki
Bay is a pr nightmare for all involved. There are
no winners in this situation and a tops off a

(01:15):
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 Nortland. Honestly, what next?
After the government scrapped to the Mega faries plan due
to a blowout in the land's side infrastructure costs, the

(01:37):
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 Straight 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,

(01:59):
the buck was passed pretty quickly, with Transport Minister Simming
and Brown making it very clear the onus was on
Kiwi Rail to make sure their maintaining their ships and
on Maritime New Zealand to make sure they do so.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
And here is right.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Regardless of what plan was or will be in place
to replace the current Fairies, the Oratary would still have
been sailing on Friday and for many more fridays to come.
Keeping the fleet operational is imperative until replacements have been delivered,
but there's no doubt that this will bring renewed pressure

(02:33):
back on the government to get new vessels and new
port infrastructure underway. The number of instants tell us all
we need to know. State Highway One over the Cook
Strait is unreliable, it's disruptive to businesses and freight service,
and it feels like we're just one more incident away
from a disaster with a much more serious outcome. In

(02:54):
the meantime, though well done to everyone involved in refloating
the raitary last night without incident. Job well done. Let's
just hope you don't have to do it again.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks a B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.