Author Topic: New Zealand ferry Aratere  (Read 2416 times)

Offline Mark Johnston

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New Zealand ferry Aratere
« on: March 27, 2011, 04:03:02 AM »
Hi all. I was wondering if anyone has heard of any news regarding the New Zealand interisland ferry Aratere. She was supposed to undergo a major refit, including a new mid section to the hull and a revised bow as well.
There was a mention back in february in the local paper The Dominion Post, this is the article:

Aratere up for surgical boost
KATIE CHAPMAN

Passengers wanting to cross Cook Strait on an Interislander ferry in the next few months need to book early as a major revamp of the smallest ship in the fleet limits the number of crossings.

The Aratere will be taken out of service next month, to allow a $40 million upgrade that involves cutting it in half and adding an extension in the middle.

A new bow will also be installed to improve ship performance.

Next month the ship will be taken to Singapore, where the new sections are being constructed. It will be joined back up in May.

But while the ship is out of service the number of sailings will be reduced.

The timetable during the period from March 14 till July 31 will include three passenger sailings from Wellington each day, with a full Kaitaki passenger sailing on Sunday evenings only.

During the other six days in the week, Kaitaki will offer only a limited number of passenger spaces on the evening sailing

Offline nfs

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Re: New Zealand ferry Aratere
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2011, 08:44:20 AM »
Hi Mark

Here is the latest news from "transpress nz Wednesday, March 23, 2011":

The Cook Strait ferry Aratere will depart New Zealand on 13 April for Singapore for a revamp costing $40 million.

As part of the re-fit, Aratere will be cut in half at the Sembawang shipyards in Singapore and a new 30-metre long mid-body as well as a new bow installed. This will increase passenger capacity by about 300, vehicle capacity by 30 per cent, rail capacity by 27 per cent, and improve performance in rough weather.

The practice of upsizing cargo ships like this was common in the 1950s.

Interislander general manager Thomas Davis said that Strait Shipping's former freight and Bluebridge passenger ferry the Monte Stello has been leased for five months from the end of March, and will fill the gap while Aratere is away.

Mr Davis said the Aratere would stop operations on 10 April, leaving New Zealand 3 days later, and is expected to return into service in the second week of September in time for the Rugby World Cup and the seasonal increase in rail freight. "Staff have been outstanding in the efforts they have made to prepare for this, and I am confident that we will continue to operate efficiently and effectively throughout the absence of Aratere."

The following link shows a series of photos regarding the progress being made in Singapore http://www.flickr.com/photos/interislander/with/5414288717/.

Cheers!

 

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