MV Kaitaki

Last updated

MV Kaitaki, Wellington Harbour.jpg
MV Kaitaki in Wellington Harbour
History
Name
  • 1995–2002: MV Isle of Innisfree
  • 2002–2005: MV Pride of Cherbourg
  • 2005: MV Stena Challenger
  • 2005–2007: MV Challenger
  • 2007 onwards: MV Kaitaki
Owner Irish Continental Group (1995-2017), KiwiRail (2017-)
Operator
Port of registry
Route Wellington to Picton (from 2005)
Builder Van der Giessen de Noord, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Yard number963
Laid down3 August 1994
Launched1 January 1995
In service23 May 1995
Identification
StatusIn service
Notes [1]
General characteristics
Type Roll-on/roll-off ferry
Tonnage
Length181.6 m (596 ft)
Beam23.4 m (77 ft)
Draught5.30 m (17 ft 5 in)
Decks10
Installed power
  • 4 x Sulzer Type 8 ZAL 40 S
  • 5,760 kW each at 510 rpm
Propulsion
  • 2 propellers
  • 2 bow thrusters
Speed20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity
  • 1,350 passengers
  • 132 passenger berths
  • 600 cars
  • 1,780 lane metres
Crew60
Notes [2]

MV Kaitaki is a roll-on/roll-off ferry built in 1995. It previously operated under the names, Isle of Innisfree, then Pride of Cherbourg, Stena Challenger and Challenger. As of 2008, MV Kaitaki was the largest ferry operating the Interislander service between the North and South Islands of New Zealand having taken her latest name in 2007. KiwiRail, the operator of the Interislander service, bought the Kaitaki in 2017.

Contents

History

The ship was built at Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in the Netherlands, and was launched in 1995 as the Isle of Innisfree for the Irish Ferries route between Holyhead and Dublin. Subsequently she served on the Pembroke Dock – Rosslare route between 1997 and 2001. [1]

In 2002 the Isle of Innisfree was chartered by P&O Portsmouth and was sent to Falmouth in July of that year for refit. She emerged as Pride of Cherbourg, the third ship to carry this name. Pride of Cherbourg entered service in September 2002.

MV Kaitaki under her previous name MV Challenger in Wellington Harbour PrideofCherbourg.jpg
MV Kaitaki under her previous name MV Challenger in Wellington Harbour

Pride of Cherbourg's last crossing for P&O was on 14 January 2005, from Cherbourg to Portsmouth. P&O subchartered her to Stena Roroand she sailed for Gdańsk, where all her exterior P&O branding was removed and she was renamed Stena Challenger. The Stena Challenger sailed on Stena Line's Karlskrona—Gdynia service from February until June 2005. [1]

After completing her service with Stena Line she was sub-chartered again, to KiwiRail. [3] Before leaving for New Zealand her name was shortened to Challenger, [1] with its Māori translation, Kaitaki, also appearing on its bow, being used for marketing purposes (the other two Interislander ferries at the time, Arahura and Aratere, had Māori names). In April 2007 the ship was renamed Kaitaki. [1] Like the Kaiarahi she is an Interislander ferry without a rail deck for the transport of railway wagons. [4]

In 2009, it was announced that the initial five-year lease would be extended. [3] The lease has been renewed again on 16 April 2013 until 2017 with the option to extend another three years afterwards. [5] In May 2017, KiwiRail purchased the Kaitaki outright from the Irish Continental Group. [6] [7]

On the evening of 28 January 2023, the Kaitaki suffered an incident where she lost power (including propulsion) around 5pm for several hours. However, the ship managed to anchor itself safely, did not encounter any further danger, and power was eventually restored to the vessel later that night. [8] The Transport Accident Investigation Commission of New Zealand stated that an investigation would be launched, due to the incident's impact on transportation safety and to make recommendations to prevent future incidents. [9]

Related Research Articles

Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Ferries</span> Irish maritime transport company

Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin Port-Cherbourg in France.

MS <i>Pride of Dover</i>

MS Pride of Dover was a cross-channel ferry built-in 1987 for Townsend Thoresen. One of two 'Chunnel Beater' ships she primarily operated on the Dover – Calais route alongside her sister ship the Pride of Calais for P&O Ferries Ferries until 2010.

P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P&O European Ferries</span>

P&O European Ferries, a division of P&O Ferries, was a ferry company which operated in the English Channel from 1987 after the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, when Townsend Thoresen was renamed P&O European Ferries, until 1999 when the Portsmouth Operations became P&O Portsmouth and the Dover Operations were merged with Stena Line AB to make P&O Stena Line.

DEV <i>Arahura</i> Former train ferry of New Zealand

DEV Arahura was a roll-on/roll-off train ferry that operated on the Interislander service between Wellington and Picton in New Zealand from 1983 until 2015.

DEV <i>Aratere</i>

DEV Aratere is a roll-on/roll-off rail and vehicle ferry operated by KiwiRail in New Zealand. Built in 1998 for the then private company Tranz Rail and lengthened in 2011, she operates four daily crossings on the Interislander service across Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton each day.

GMV <i>Aramoana</i>

GMV Aramoana was a roll-on/roll-off train ferry operating across Cook Strait between 1962 and 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P&O Portsmouth</span>

P&O Portsmouth was the name for P&O European Ferries' Portsmouth operations from 1999 to 2002 when it was merged with the Dover Operations to become P&O Ferries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interislander</span> Ferry service across the Cook Strait

Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessels operate the 50-nautical-mile route, taking about three hours to complete the crossing.

MS <i>King Seaways</i>

MS King Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting North Shields, effectively the port of Newcastle upon Tyne,, England to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1987 as MS Nils Holgersson by Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, West Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2006 the ship was named MV Val de Loire, owned by Brittany Ferries and used on traffic across the English Channel. A DFDS vessel since 2006, she was originally named MS King of Scandinavia, before being given her current name in 2011.

MV <i>Cotentin</i>

Cotentin is a ROPAX ferry owned and operated by Brittany Ferries between Poole and Cherbourg from January until March 2021 and then Portsmouth and Le Havre from March 2021 until June 2021. She previously operated for Brittany Ferries between 2007 and 2013 between Poole–Cherbourg before being chartered to Stena Line as Stena Baltica serving the route between Gdynia and Karlskrona. The vessel was constructed by Aker Finnyards in Finland and delivered to Brittany Ferries on 9 November 2007. Cotentin sails under the French flag and is registered in Morlaix. The ship's gross tonnage is 22,308.

MS <i>Isle of Innisfree</i> (2021) Passenger and car ferry ship

MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 operated for a wide variety of companies.

MV <i>Aratika</i>

MV Aratika was a roll-on/roll-off train ferry that operated on the Interislander between Wellington and Picton in New Zealand from 1974 until 1999.

HSC <i>Hanil Blue Narae</i>

HSC Hanil Blue Narae is a 74m fast catamaran ferry formerly that has operated in England, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea.

KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. KiwiRail has business units of KiwiRail Freight, Great Journeys New Zealand and Interislander. KiwiRail released a 10-Year Turn-around Plan in 2010 and has received significant government investment in support of this in an effort to make KiwiRail a viable long-term transport operator.

MS <i>Isle of Inishmore</i> (1996)

MS Isle of Inishmore is a ro-ro ferry owned by Irish Ferries and operated on their Dover-Calais service. At the time of her introduction, she was the largest car ferry operating in Northern Europe. She is named after Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. The name of the ferry is tautologous, since "Inishmore" derives from the Irish for "big island". Despite not being sister ships, the ship's design is copied from the Stena Line vessel Stena Jutlandica up until the superstructure.

MS <i>Stena Nordica</i> (2000)

Stena Nordica is a ro-pax ferry owned and operated by Stena Line.

MS <i>Kaiarahi</i> Ferry in New Zealand

MS Kaiarahi is a RO-RO ferry operated by Interislander on the Wellington to Picton interisland route between the North and South islands of New Zealand.

MV <i>Stena Livia</i>

Stena Livia is a roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) ferry operated by Stena Line on their Travemünde–Liepaja service. It was built in 2008, and originally named Norman Voyager.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Asklander, Micke. "M/S Isle of Innisfree (1995)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  2. ↑ "Facts and Figures – Kaitaki | Interislander". Interislander. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  3. 1 2 "Three more years for Interisland ferry". Wellington.Scoop. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "Strait ferries weigh on government books". Television New Zealand. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  5. ↑ "KiwiRail to renew Kaitaki lease". marlborough-express. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "KiwiRail buys the Kaitaki passenger ferry 'to secure future of Cook Strait link'". The New Zealand Herald . 17 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ↑ KiwiRail buys Interislander ferry Kaitaki Track & Signal August 2017 page 35
  8. ↑ "Tug boats escorting Interislander to Wellington after ferry loses power". RNZ. 28 January 2023. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "Commission opens inquiry into Interislander ferry Kaitaki mayday". NZ Herald. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.

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