A recent claim by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters that the Interislander ferry 'Kaiarahi' is suffering from steering issues has been adamantly refuted by parent company, KiwiRail.
Continuing a personal campaign against the Interislander, Mr Peters described 'Kaiarahi' as a "floating scrap heap" and claimed that steering and mechanical problems were affecting the ferry's ability to manoeuvre, with "several reports of the ship hitting the wharf".
However, a KiwiRail spokesperson says the ferry's steering is performing correctly with "no operating restrictions placed on the ship".
"We have inspected the flaps on the end of the rudders with divers recently and confirmed that their condition is within the tolerances specified by the manufacturer," says the spokesperson.
"There is no mechanical problem with the propulsion or steering of the ship leading to any wharf damage as alleged by Mr Peters.
"No engine work has been done since the ship entered service, though a lot of inspections and maintenance was done in Singapore during the docking period, which is the normal approach that all prudent ship owners take."
The spokesperson added that the ferry's main engines do not use more oil than other ships, as was alleged by Mr Peters in 2014 "and was disproved".
Iain MacIntyre
