Nick
James, Journalist
Council leaders on both
sides of Cook Strait say lives could be put at risk due to
its emergency tug being off-contract from this
month.
In November it was announced the government had
sunk
plans to station an open ocean tug in the Cook Strait
long-term after it said the costs outweighed the
benefits.
The government also announced it would end
the contract for the MMA Vision open ocean tug this month,
rather than June when it was contracted for.
For years
local government leaders on either side of the North and
South Island had been calling for open ocean tugs after
several near-miss accidents.
One of these was in
January 2023 when the Interislander ferry Kaitaki was
sailing into Wellington Harbour with 854 passengers on board
and lost
power, which resulted in a mayday call.
Greater
Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter said the
absence of an emergency tug posed unacceptable
risks.
“Cancelling the MMAVision contract puts
lives and economic lifelines in peril.”
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Marlborough
Mayor Nadine Taylor agreed, saying it was one of the most
complex stretches of water in the world to
navigate.
“It’s also a shipping route of national
significance where the government is responsible for
safety.”
The two leaders had penned a letter to
Transport Minister Chris Bishop asking for an extension of
the MMA Vision’s contract. They said not having the tug
nearby would risk human safety, financial stability and the
environment given the clean-up cost and damage if a large
ship sank.
Ponter said from July, the closest vessel
that would have emergency open ocean tug capability would be
1200 nautical miles away in Australia.
“That’s about
five days of travel time. We cannot depend on harbour tugs
for open-ocean rescues. They are not designed, equipped or
crewed for towing large vessels in Cook Strait – where
conditions are frequently beyond their operating
parameters.”
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the
MMA Vision was intended to be a temporary solution whilst it
was determined whether what it delivered was worth its
cost.
“The evidence shows that it isn’t, so it was not
necessary to continue to fund it.
“The Detailed
Business Case found that there were 23 maritime incidents
over the last five years where ready access to emergency
ocean response capability may have supported the response –
most of which occurred outside the Cook Strait
area.”
Bishop said all of these were resolved without
government-procured towing capability.
He said
commentary from Chair Ponter and Mayor Taylor is long on
rhetoric and short on engagement with the facts.
“I
encourage them to read the detailed business case, which
makes it clear that the costs of an emergency response
capability are large and outweigh the
benefits.”
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