DEV Aratere Interislander Inter Island Ferry New Zealand

This is a video taken from the deck of the DEV Aratere inter-island ferry sailing between Picton and Wellington New Zealand circa 26th Dec 2021.
DEV Aratere is a roll-on/roll-off rail and vehicle ferry operated by KiwiRail in New Zealand. Built in 1998 for the then private company Tranz Rail and lengthened in 2011, she operates four daily crossings on the Interislander service across Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton each day (with six crossings over the December/January period).
History
Diesel Electric Vessel (DEV) Aratere was built for Tranz Rail in 1998 to replace the Aratika. The name "Aratere" is a Māori-language word meaning "quick path" (ara = "path, route", tere = "fast, quick").
In 2011, Aratere underwent a $52 million refit at the Sembawang shipyard in Singapore,[3] increasing her capacity from 360 to 600 passengers. The refit included a new bow and stern. The ship was lengthened by cutting it in half to insert a new 30-metre (98 ft) midsection.
Incidents
Aratere has been involved in several technical problems and engine failures over her years in service. There is no official relationship between these incidents, though the media have stoked speculation that the ferry may be jinxed and she has earned the nickname "El Lemon".[2][5] Notable incidents have included:
- 25 February 1999 - An engine failure.
- 18 December 2000 - An engine malfunction.
- 1 October 2004 - "30 seconds of potential disaster" after Aratere had a steering fault in the Marlborough Sounds.
- 10 February 2005 - Aratere was detained after a "crisis of confidence" with inspectors noting that she had arrived from Spain six years earlier in a shocking state. They could no longer allow her to operate as she was [9] She was eventually allowed to sail again on 15 March.
- After the extensive refit carried out in Singapore in 2011, she has once again experienced numerous incidents, including engine failures. On 2 November 2011 Maritime NZ ordered the ship to stop operating until proven safe.
- On 5 November 2013, Aratere snapped a drive shaft, losing a propeller in Cook Strait. This initially forced the ship out of service, causing disruption to Interislander schedules. Subsequently, the ship was allowed to make freight only crossings with only one propeller for propulsion.
Interislander
Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessels operate the 50-nautical-mile (93 km; 58 mi) route, taking about three hours to complete the crossing.The inter-island rail ferry service began in August 1962 by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). The service primarily provided a RORO rail link between its North and South Island networks, allowing NZR to compete directly with coastal shipping companies for inter-island freight. It also provided the first RORO road link between the two islands, which saw the Wellington to Picton ferries compete with, and then completely replace, the Union Company's Wellington-Lyttelton ferry service. Today, the Interislander service is still well patronised despite competition on the Wellington-Picton sea route with Bluebridge and from airlines, carrying around one million passengers and 230,000 vehicles per year on 5,500 sailings.In 2017, Interislander became part of The Great Journeys of New Zealand, a new tourism brand created by KiwiRail to unite its four scenic passenger services: Interislander, Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific and the TranzAlpine.
Aramoana and Aranui. The faster Arahura reduced the time across Cook Strait by 20 minutes to three hours.Initially, USSC operated the ferries on NZR's behalf. This changed in 1970 when the Minister of Railways, Peter Gordon, announced that NZR would be forming its own maritime service to operate the inter-island ferries.
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