Source: Radio New Zealand
The Kaitaki Interislander ferry in Wellington Harbour. KiwiRail
Wellington’s harbourmaster says there’s still a critical risk to people’s lives and the environment without an emergency tug boat in the Cook Strait.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released its report into the Kaitaki ferry stranding on Thursday, saying a marine disaster was only narrowly avoided in January 2023 when the ship shut down and drifted dangerously close to rocks near Wellington harbour.
With 864 people on board, the commission said deaths, a total loss of the ship or severe damage to the environment would have been virtually certain if the anchors had failed to hold.
Chief Commissioner David Clarke said New Zealand lacked the capability to tow or rescue large ships – and this was a vital safety issue that Maritime NZ and the Ministry of Transport needed to sort out.
The government ditched plans last year to station an open-ocean tug in the Cook Strait, saying the costs outweighed the benefits. It ended the contract for an emergency tug vessel, the MMA Vision, early in March.
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder said the lack of an emergency tug was still a risk which needed to be addressed, and he wanted the government to consider re-instating one.
“It’s unlikely we’ll need it, but if we don’t have it and it goes bad, there’s significant consequence.”
Nalder said Wellington’s coastline was very unforgiving, and it was best to avoid evacuating people off a ship in a marine emergency if possible.
“You’ve got a lot of people on these ships – both the ferries and cruise ships in Cook Strait. If there is a calamity with them, in bad weather, you don’t want to be in a life-boat or a life-raft…the potential for significant injuries is very high.
“Outside of the people factor, if you get a shipwrecked on the South Coast there’s going to be significant environmental consequences to that as well.”
Nalder said the MMA Vision was in Taranaki because it had work in the oil and gas industry, and the next nearest emergency tug was in Bass Strait in Australia.
He said in an emergency where a ferry’s anchors didn’t hold, that’s too far away.
“When you’ve got a ship getting pushed ashore, there is a quite small window of being able to do anything, and then it becomes recovery and salvage and rescue of those on board if it does go aground.”
Maritime Union National Secretary Carl Findlay said he was also calling on the government to immediately reinstate funding for emergency response vessels.
TAIC’s report highlighted the need for “national towage and salvage capability, and the government was “actively stripping that capability away”, Findlay said.
“Health and safety is not a budget item to be cut for political expediency. If the Government does not act now, they will be held responsible if something goes badly wrong.”
Emergency tug only one tool – minister
In a release in November 2025, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the government had considered a detailed business case for procuring two separate emergency tug vessels. One based in the Cook Strait which could stabilise a stricken vessel, and a larger emergency tug that could then tow that vessel to safe harbour.
Bishop said at the time costs had escalated for this proposal, from about $80 million over 10 years to over $259 million over 10 years.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop RNZ/Marika Khabazi
Bishop said in a statement today that while the government carefully considered the proposal, the costs were “large” and outweighed the benefits.
“I encourage people to read the analysis that has been undertaken.”
He said there were 23 maritime incidents over the last five years where an emergency ocean tug may have helped – most of which occurred outside the Cook Strait.
“All of these incidents were resolved without government procured towing capability.”
Bishop said it was not clear whether weather conditions would have allowed an emergency vessel to make a connection during Kaitaki’s stranding, or whether it would have arrived in time.
He said emergency response boats were “only one tool” to help with maritime safety.
“There are a range of international conventions in place to ensure that the standard of shipping is kept high, and a regulatory regime in place to monitor and enforce against those standards.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand