Plan for bigger Aratere probed
By CHERIE HOWE - The Marlborough Express
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A hush-hush move by government-owned KiwiRail to increase the size of the Aratere inter-island ferry is being investigated by a Marlborough District Council-appointed maritime engineer to ensure any changes meet contentious wave wash rules.
KiwiRail lodged a certificate of compliance application with the council late last month to increase the length of the Aratere by about 20 metres and to modify the bow of the ship.
When contacted last week, KiwiRail spokesman Nigel Parry initially did not want to discuss the details of the proposal, other than to say expansion would allow KiwiRail to increase passenger and vehicle capacity on the ship. "I don't want to go into it ... if we commit to this and it is finalised then we will let you know."
Mr Parry said yesterday the certificate of compliance application was "technical correspondence" with the council over possible changes to the ship and was not meant to be made public at this stage.
Council resource management officer Keith Heather confirmed the application had been "lodged in confidence", which KiwiRail was entitled to do. The information was included in a list of resource consent applications sent to The Marlborough Express.
Mr Heather said the council had now appointed a maritime engineer to look at the data provided by KiwiRail on the impact the proposed changes would have on the wave wash produced by the Aratere and whether the ship would continue to meet the Marlborough Sounds resource management plan's wave-height rule.
The Environment Court-sanctioned wave-height rule limits how much wake ships can create.
A report on the maritime engineer's findings is expected in the next month, after which a decision would be made on whether to grant a certificate of compliance, Mr Heather said.
The Aratere and Arahura ferries are allowed under existing use rights to travel at speeds of up to 20 knots (37 kilometres an hour) inside the Marlborough Sounds as long as they comply with the wave-height rule.
The exemption of KiwiRail's two older ships from the council's initial speed limit of 15 knots for large ships in the Sounds – the newest ship Kaitaki was last year given permission to travel at up to 19.5 knots – has long riled environmental watchdog Guardians of the Sounds.
They want the exemption to be given a specific end date.
Guardians of the Sounds chairman Peter Beech yesterday described the Aratere as a "shocker of a ship that is causing a lot of damage in the Sounds".
However, he did not have a problem with the proposed alterations – he simply wanted to see all the ferries restricted to 15 knots in the Sounds. "They could make it half as long again and half as wide again and it would still not be as big as the Kaitaki.
"We're not against business or trade and we've never tried to stop the ferries operating. All we've ever said is we want them to travel at a speed that doesn't have an adverse effect on our beaches and our ecology and is not unsafe to the people of the Sounds and recreational users."
Mr Parry said yesterday the proposed alterations "would, if anything, make the wake lower".
"You might assume a longer ship means a bigger wave, but that's not necessarily true."
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