Ferry’s last run

Press, 20 June 1984, Page 8

Ferry’s last run

PA Wellington The Cook Strait rail ferry Aranui made her last voyage from Picton to Wellington yesterday.

Like the Aramoana, the Aranui will be laid up at Wellington while the Railways Corporation seeks a buyer. The Aranui was to have made her last Cook Strait voyage last week-end, but she was given a two-day reprieve because of the presence of oil tankers at Wellington.

Ferrymasters refuse to manoeuvre the new ferry

Arahura at the ferry terminal while oil tankers are berthed at the nearby Aotea Quay. They say it is too dangerous. The presence of the oil tankers at the berth, which will be moved later this year, meant a brief lay-up for the Arahura. With the withdrawal of the Aranui, the Cook Strait rail ferry service will be sailed by the Arahura, the newly refurbished Aratika, and the freight ferry Arahanga.

The Aranui was the second rail ferry to enter service between Wellington and Picton. She was built by Vickers Armstrongs at Newcastle upon Tyne for $2 million and began the Cook Strait run on June 9, 1966.

In 1978, the Aranui was out of service for eight months for a refit.

Her lay-up at Wellington will bring to three the ships at present laid up. The Aramoana has been laid up for more than a year, and the research ship Tangaroa is also out of service.