Charges filed against KiwiRail over Aratere grounding

Maritime NZ has filed two charges against KiwiRail following an investigation into the grounding of Interislander ferry Aratere last year.

The Aratere grounded just north of Picton on June 21 last year, with 47 people onboard at the time.

No one was injured and the vessel was refloated two days afterwards, with damage to its bow that required repair.

Maritime New Zealand’s chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the charges relate to failures by the operator to keep crew and passengers safe while onboard the ferry, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

“This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management.

“It required us to look at systems, policies and procedures, culture, within KiwiRail in relation to the incident.”

She said a “significant number of interviews were conducted” and a substantial amount of evidence collated.

“The time taken to undertake this investigation, collate and review the evidence, and decide on compliance action is consistent with other complex and major incidents,” she said.

“As we have now filed charges in court, we cannot talk about what our investigation found,” Hewlett said.

In October last year, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission released an initial report into the incident, finding that less than three minutes passed between crew on the Aratere switching on autopilot and the ferry grounding.

TAIC will release a final report with further analysis and any possible recommendations at a later date.

Earlier this year, the Government announced the ferry would be retired by August 30 to make way for required Picton port redevelopment in preparation for the two brand-new Cook Strait ferries arriving in 2029.

The grounding was just one of many incidents that have plagued the vessel in its 25 years of crossing the Cook Strait.

In a statement, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy told 1News the company has “made improvements to our processes and systems to avoid an event like this happening again”.

Roy said an internal investigation carried out in the immediate aftermath of the incident led to nine recommendations – the majority of which have been implemented.

“This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures.”

Since returning to passenger sailings, the Aratere has made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles, Roy said. The vessel’s reliability is at 98% this financial year.

In 2024, Interislander brought in independent overseas assessors DNV to review its three ships and their maintenance. Roy said DNV found the ships were in good condition for their age and with the company’s stringent maintenance regime, there was no systemic reason why they cannot continue sailing safely until 2029.

The charges

Charge 1: s48 charge – in that it had a duty as a PCBU, namely to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere and that failure exposed crew members and passengers to the risk of death or serious injury. Maximum penalty $1.5m

Charge 2: s49 charge under HSWA – in that it had a duty as a PCBU, failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere. Maximum penalty: $500,000