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An incident where an Interislander ferry lost power in the Cook Strait almost certainly would have ended in a serious casualty if not for a well-timed anchor drop, a report says. An investigation into the dramatic Kaitaki breakdown in 2023 has also shown the response to the emergency was poorly structured and the coordination between stakeholders during the rescue was lacking. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s (TAIC) today released its final report into the maritime incident, concluding the multi-year inquiry. KiwiRail was fined more than $400,000 for the mayday incident, which took place three years ago. At 4.55pm on January 28, 2023, the operator advised Maritime New Zealand the Kaitaki ferry had reported engine problems. The ferry lost power in the middle of the Cook Strait and drifted for an hour with 864 people on board. “Time was critical, and if the ship had not been arrested by its anchors, a very serious marine casualty was virtually certain,” the report stated. The inquiry found the ship’s master and bridge team responded appropriately but a “more structured” and “well-exercised” engineer’s response would have likely resolved the mechanical failure sooner. “An engineer aboard described the scene as ‘organised chaos, everybody was everywhere trying to do everything’,” the report stated. “The attempts may have been successful sooner if the response had been more structured and focussed on stabilising the systems necessary to operate the auxiliary engine, restore power and then attempt to restore main propulsion.” TAIC found that although it was clear the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand was leading the rescue operation, there was “a lack of common understanding and coordination among the various stakeholders”. On the day of the event, the wind was blowing about 30 knots, with gusts of 45 knots, and the swell was about 3m when the ship’s master put out a mayday call and began preparing a full evacuation, dropping two anchors as soon as possible. Before the anchors took hold, the vessel was drifting at such a rate they only had about 12 minutes until they reached dangerously shallow waters. The Kaitaki ferry's compensators had previously been identified as a risk. Photo / Mark Mitchell The engineering team leapt to action, replacing a high temperature (HT) outlet compensator on the vessel’s diesel generator, which had failed and caused the ship’s cooling water to drain into the bilges. Once the compensator had been replaced and cooling water system refilled, power was restored, the ferry picked up its anchors, and continued to Wellington without further incident. A preliminary report from TAIC in May 2023 revealed the faulty compensator was a piece of safety-critical equipment that was 13 years older than it should have been. KiwiRail was sentenced in late 2024 KiwiRail, which operated the Interislander ferry, was sentenced in the Wellington District Court in 2024 for exposing passengers and crew to harm. KiwiRail was fined $412,500 for the dramatic event. Harrowing passenger accounts of the incident were read out at the sentencing. Sobbing passengers filmed final farewells to loved ones as the Kaitaki drifted, powerless, towards the rocky shore, the court heard. The chaos and fear on board the vessel – including people crying, vomiting, and having panic attacks – were described in victim impact statements. Judge Peter Hobbs sentenced KiwiRail in the Wellington District Court on September 9, 2024. KiwiRail’s executive general manager for the Interislander, Duncan Roy, read a statement in court apologising for the incident. “This was not a situation that anyone should have had to experience,” he said. “KiwiRail takes this event very seriously and I take this event very seriously. KiwiRail’s guilty plea is an acknowledgment of the failures that led to this event.” What caused the power loss? A compensator is a flexible rubber component designed to connect rigid piping systems which carry fluid...
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