DOC to get $500,000 Stewart Island ferry

Conservation Department staff on Stewart Island will soon be ferried around in style with the imminent arrival of a new $500,000 boat. The 13.5m boat is undergoing final work in Palmerston North, where it is being built by engineering company ProFab.

Named the Hananui after the Maori word for Mt Anglem, the island's highest mountain, it will be able to carry 12 passengers and will replace the 29 year-old Jester.

DOC southern islands area manager Andy Roberts said the Jester had been struggling during the past few years and the arrival of the new boat would be "fantastic".

"There's several hundred kilometres of coastline and very little road, so to drop people off at the sites we're working is pretty important," he said.

Using charter services for jobs had not worked out as they needed to transport "nuisance loads" such as building materials, he said.

Construction was on track and it was expected delivery would occur in late June or early July, Mr Roberts said.

shane.cowlishaw@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

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