Transport Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Transport Minister has refused to confirm or deny whether an advisory group has suggested KiwiRail no longer run Cook Strait ferries, but the Maritime Union says it looks that way.
The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground near Picton last month, the latest in a series of incidents that have plagued the vessel in its 25 years of crossing the Cook Strait.
On Thursday, TVNZ reported the group had recommended to Cabinet that Kiwirail no longer run the ferries.
Simeon Brown told Morning Report the government received a report from the Independent Ferry Advisory Group a few weeks ago.
"We're still considering what it says, ultimately those decisions have to go to Cabinet before any statements are made."
Transport Minister on KiwiRail running Cook Strait ferries
He said there was a number of recommendations and observations in the report but he refused to go into detail about what they were.
The advisory group was set up after the coalition government refused KiwiRail's request for $1.47b in additional funding for iReX, the project to replace its ageing ferries and related port infrastructure.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis described as a "major cost blowout" at the time.
The Transport Ministry has previously questioned whether KiwiRail was capable of continuing to run the service and said KiwiRail's costs continued to grow while its competitor Bluebridge operated commercial services without a subsidy.
The ministry said a more commercially viable option should be possible if a new approach was taken: "especially by someone other than KiwiRail".
"Given the difficulties KiwiRail have had with Project iReX, and the fact they have a range of core rail issues to address, raises the question of KiwiRail's suitability to run the Interislander business in the medium to long term."
But Maritime Union national secretary Carl Findlay told Morning Report it "definitely" seemed like the group had recommended KiwiRail be dropped from running the ferries.
Union on KiwiRail running Cook Strait ferries
He believed the government needed to bring back the the iReX project.
"They need to bite the bullet, fall on their swords, say 'Hey, we made a stuff up here, but how can we fix this?'.
"We really need this key piece of infrastructure."
New entity to run ferries?
The Aratere returning to Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Meanwhile, Greater Wellington Regional Council's chair Daran Ponter has sounded caution over wholesale changes to KiwiRail.
The council is a majority owner of Centreport where the Cook Strait ferries run from.
Ponter told Nine to Noon that he had not seen the group's report although he was interviewed for it.
He believed current options available were either to split up KiwiRail's workload, for example, having them focus solely on running the ferries instead of also portside activities, the government creating a new entity for operations and privatisation.
Wellington's regional council chair on Interislander ferries management
Ponter said creating a new entity could sound "very attractive initially" but it was likely it would also walk into the same problems.
Running a ferry service on the Cook Strait was not an easy operation, he said.
KiwiRail has had some "significantly difficult times" recently with their ships in operation, but ordinarily, they ran a good service," he said.
"Its sounds like you're sort of just hopeful that in creating a new entity you will get something better than what you've got now.
"Having been in this type of situation, a little bit in the past in our Greater Wellington operations, I can certainly say it's never quite like that.
"Those greener pastures ... they're never quite as green as you think they are."
Ponter hoped the government did not go down the privatisation route after the then Labour government bought back state control of the operation in 2008.
"I hope that we've put the days of Wisconsin Rail and Toll Rail behind us. It is a period that we are still paying for in New Zealand.
"I'm still in ongoing conversations with the government about rail renewals many which come from that period, a huge lack of [investment]. If we transfer KiwiRail to a private operation issues will arise in a different way and the government is going to have to be very sure that it's contractual arrangements are sufficiently robust to hold the operator to account.
"It is the government after all who has talked about this route being State Highway One and being material to New Zealand inc. and so the thought of it being privatised doesn't bear thinking about at the moment," Ponter said.
'Nothing wrong with our Cook Strait ferries'
But senior maritime consultant John Riding told Morning Report it was "total nonsense" to claim the ferries were too old.
"There's nothing wrong with our Cook Strait ferries. If we wanted we could have them operate until they were 35 or 40 years old, it's how they are being operated."
Maritime expert questions autopilot on Aratere
Documents sent to staff last week and leaked to the media confirm the Aratere's autopilot was involved.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has since alleged a cover-up by KiwiRail over the grounding, which KiwiRail has refuted.
Riding said it was not best practice to put autopilot on when entering and leaving Picton.
"It is what is appropriate practice where actually professional mariners do know better.
"Back in 2006, the Aratere, the same ship, actually ended up with a similar problem with a fully automatic navigation system that was ... used down the Sounds and human error crept in and almost caused the vessel to go aground."
"If the ship is in enhanced steering which was what was agreed back in 2006, after a lot of money was spent on flying international experts all round the globe to say and explain why shipping operates this way, it was all agreed this is what we should do, then I'm disappointed to see that we've deviated from that."