Wellington’s harbourmaster has confirmed talks are under way for Wellington to get a tug boat able to rescue stricken ships in open water.
Grant Nalder was talking after the latest maritime near-disaster, when 294-metre cargo ship the Shiling broke down off Farewell Spit on Friday, triggering an air and sea rescue that ended when a ship designed for open-water haulage, the Skandi Emerald, raced from Taranaki and towed the container ship to safety.
But New Zealand normally has no such rescue vehicle as the Skandi Emerald was only in the country because it was contracted to the Taranaki petro-chemical industry.
New Zealand’s lack of a harbour tug was brought to the fore in January when Cook Strait ferry the Kaitaki lost all power when an 18-year-old rubber component failed and, with 864 people on board, drifted towards the rocky south coast of the North Island. Wellington’s harbour tugs rushed to the ship but it later transpired that they would not have been able to attach to Kaitaki and tow it to safety.
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Nalder, who has previously raised the alarm bells about the city’s lack of a salvage tug, on Monday confirmed that he and Maritime New Zealand had been talking about the possibility of a Wellington salvage vessel after the Kaitaki incident. He understood Transport Minister Michael Wood was involved in those discussions.
Brianna Cotter/Supplied
Wellington’s harbour tugs raced to the sticken Kaitaki in January but would have been little help of the vessel had needed to be towed,
It remained a “live discussion” with various options on the table, ranging from the cheapest option of adapting one of the existing harbour tugs so they could perform high seas rescue, to a purpose-built salvage tug.
“The reality is, we are not looking at the top end,” Nalder said.
After the Kaitaki mayday incident, it emerged that tugs with specific open water towing capability, bought as a result of the 1968 Wahine tragedy, had been replaced by tugs that were more powerful but designed for in-harbour work and less suited to attaching to stricken ships in open water.
DAVID UNWIN/The Post
A rubber expansion joint which ruptured in the Kaitaki’s cooling system.
The lack of a salvage tug had been repeatedly raised as an issue over years with one maritime lawyer describing it as a “ticking time bomb”.
Planning underway for stricken Shiling
The 294-metre cargo ship that sparked an air and sea rescue mission off the top of the South Island remains at anchor in Tasman Bay while planning is underway to return it to Wellington.
The Shiling had only just left the capital last week, after being ordered to stay in the city for weeks following a previous near-miss, then lost all power and steering off Farewell Spit on Friday.
Lottie McCloy/Supplied
Rescue vessel the Skandi Emerald rushed to the aid of the stricken Shiling off Farewell Spit on Friday.
It was on Sunday revealed that Nelson, the closest port to where it was towed, was too small to safely get the ship to dock and it would likely return to Wellington. It remains at anchor in Tasman Bay on Monday morning with the vessel that rescued it, the Skandi Emerald, on standby nearby.
Maritime NZ on Sunday said the ship’s owner had contacted CentrePort in Wellington and it was most likely returning to the city.
“While the decisions around passage, anchoring locations and towage are managed by the owners of the Shiling, Maritime NZ has oversight, and is liaising with CentrePort and the Wellington harbourmaster to ensure the process is managed safely,” Maritime NZ incident controller Kenny Crawford said.
“The Skandi Emerald is a very capable towage vessel, and its crew are highly experienced in traversing conditions such as what could be experienced in the Cook Strait,” he said.
The ship’s owner and insurer were paying for the towage but it was yet to be decided when this would happen.
The Singaporean-flagged Shiling has already spent three weeks in Wellington after losing power as it was leaving the capital in mid-April. The powerless ship drifted over the shallow Falcon Shoals near the harbour heads and could have easily hit the sea floor in a lower tide.
It was last week given permission to leave but under strict orders to go directly to Singapore for repairs.
However, after leaving Wellington it hit 8-metre swells off the top of the Marlborough Sounds and got thrashed around in the waves and the captain took shelter.
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder recently told Greater Wellington Regional Council, which is the port’s majority owner, that the mid-April breakdown was the third mechanical failure on the ship in less than a year.