Cook Straight Ferries

Affected passengers would only be refunded because of no available vehicle space on other sailings over the coming weeks.



“We understand this is very disruptive to our customers' travel plans and we are sorry,” Bluebridge said on its website.

So - your ferry gets cancelled and your on the wrong side of the Straight. What are your options? You are kind of fucked.
Would I plan a family holiday that involves ferries? What is the risk of the whole holiday getting cancelled if the outbound ferry breaks down. Or getting stuck for 6 weeks or more with no accommodation, etc due to a breakdown on the way back. 

But I'm sure Duckmaster knows what to do. He knows everything.

i have mates down south on their bikes and they are saying at the moment sometime in may is the next available ferry home ... some are looking at leaving their bikes and flying home. I've always considered marine engineering to be almost as important as aero engineering - we can all think of scenarios where a system failure could lead to major risk to lives ... its looking like it's only the roll of the dice rather than good (engineering) management thats been keeping people safe lately...

Strait Feronia has just left dry dock in Sydney. Heading back to NZ at 16 knts.

$300 rubber expansion joint fails, almost wrecking Interisland Ferry. On several measures it was too old, not complying with manufacturers instructions, and past the due date for replacement.
Photos of the said part in the link below:

A preliminary report into the failure aboard Cook Strait ferry the Kaitaki has found the $300 to $500 rubber component that failed and sent nearly 900 people drifting towards a rocky coast was 18 years old and overdue for replacement.

The Traffic Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) is investigating the January failure of the Interislander ferry’s four engines but, with those findings still long away, it on Friday issued a preliminary report in the interests of safety.

The report shows that Interislander replaced all dodgy parts on the Kaitaki after the January mayday on Cook Strait but expressed concern that similar parts remain in operation on other ferries “that do not meet the manufacturer’s guidance and are at increased risk of failure”. This is denied by KiwiRail, which insists it is now working within manufacturer guidelines.

The Kaitaki, with 864 people on board, lost power to all four engines on January 28 and was blown a nautical mile towards the rocky south coast of the North Islands.

The TAIC report found the root cause of the problem was a rubber expansion joint which ruptured in the cooling system. The part was manufactured in 2005 but installed on the Kaitaki in 2018. It was two months overdue for replacement.

The part was presented to media and was so deteriorated that parts were falling off onto a desk.

The part manufacturer told TAIC that the part should not be installed if it was older than eight months old and replaced after five years if in a safety critical use.

A spokesperson for EagleBurgmann, which makes the components, on Friday confirmed the guidelines and said the parts sold for between $300 and $500.

The TAIC report said KiwiRail – which runs the Interislander fleet – had instigated a policy that they could only be stored for four years, then used for a further four years.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/131955394/kaitaki-report-finds-ferrys-failed-500-part-was-overdue-for-replacement?cx_testId=12&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=3&cx_experienceId=EXE6G6ISTGR0#cxrecs_s

My next trip south will be by air!

Public transport, Labour greens utopia