Peters Reveals More Serious Ferry Incidents

KiwiRail has been accused of hiding three serious incidents involving Cook Strait ferries over the past week.

Rt Hon Winston Peters today revealed three incidents he says need to be drawn to the attention of the Minister so he can start looking for competent shipping executives.

“Early last week Arahura was involved in a near miss with the Kaitaki at Picton. It is understood that an officer was taken off Arahura for drug testing.

“In another incident yesterday, when Arahura was leaving Wellington the pilot on the nearby Dawn Princess told the skipper to take a certain bearing but the skipper turned in the opposite direction and nearly hit a third ship called Citrus Express.

“An inquiry is being conducted into this incident but KiwiRail does not seem to think the public has a right to know about the shambles it is running.”

Mr Peters says the third incident involves the Stena Alegra which has a damaged propeller.

“Reliable sources have told us this happened when the ship hit a wharf in Picton.”

Mr Peters says KiwiRail seems to be operating from the script of a television comedy and it is clear the company cannot be allowed to continue to operate in such a potentially dangerous fashion.

ENDS

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