The Maritime Union has sounded a note of caution about the seaworthiness of Interislander ferries.

KiwiRail has today released a summary of a maritime assessment of the three Interislander ferries carried out by DNV, which says the ships are in reasonable condition.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says the Union appreciates the efforts being made by KiwiRail, but members on the ferries had real concerns about health and safety.

“Our members crew those ferries, so if something does go wrong they are placed in danger.” Mr Findlay says the Union is treating the conclusions of the DNV report with caution. He says keeping the current vessels running until the end of the decade is a stop gap measure at best.

“There have been a number of technical issues with the ferries already, some with potentially very serious outcomes, and the fact remains that there are many ageing systems and components in service on the ferries.”

Mr Findlay says that KiwiRail has been put in an impossible position.

“KiwiRail doesn’t really have any choice but to soldier on with end of life vessels and push up maintenance costs and maintenance time for the ships.” 

He says the main problem remains – there is no clear indication yet what the Government has planned in place of the iRex project it dumped last year. 

Mr Findlay says the full cost of abandoning the iRex project is yet to be determined and would possibly wipe out any savings on new ferries and terminal infrastructure.