MV Kaitaki
MV Kaitaki in Wellington Harbour
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History | |
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Name |
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Owner | Irish Continental Group (1995-2017), KiwiRail (2017-) |
Operator |
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Port of registry |
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Route | Wellington to Picton (from 2005) |
Builder | Van der Giessen de Noord, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
Yard number | 963 |
Laid down | 3 August 1994 |
Launched | 1 January 1995 |
In service | 23 May 1995 |
Identification |
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Status | In service |
Notes | [1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Roll-on/roll-off ferry |
Tonnage | |
Length | 181.6 m (596 ft) |
Beam | 23.4 m (77 ft) |
Draught | 5.30 m (17 ft 5 in) |
Decks | 10 |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) |
Capacity |
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Crew | 60 |
Notes | [2] |
MV Kaitaki is a roll-on/roll-off ferry built in 1995. It previously operated under the names, Isle of Innisfree, then Pride of Cherbourg, Stena Challenger and Challenger. As of 2008, MV Kaitaki was the largest ferry operating the Interislander service between the North and South Islands of New Zealand having taken her latest name in 2007. KiwiRail, the operator of the Interislander service, bought the Kaitaki in 2017.
History
The ship was built at Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in the Netherlands, and was launched in 1995 as the Isle of Innisfree for the Irish Ferries route between Holyhead and Dublin. Subsequently she served on the Pembroke Dock – Rosslare route between 1997 and 2001.[1]
In 2002 the Isle of Innisfree was chartered by P&O Portsmouth and was sent to Falmouth in July of that year for refit. She emerged as Pride of Cherbourg, the third ship to carry this name. Pride of Cherbourg entered service in September 2002.
Pride of Cherbourg's last crossing for P&O was on 14 January, from Cherbourg to Portsmouth. P&O subchartered her to Stena Roroand she sailed for Gdańsk, where all her exterior P&O branding was removed and she was renamed Stena Challenger. The Stena Challenger sailed on Stena Line's Karlskrona—Gdynia service from February until June 2005.[1]
After completing her service with Stena Line she was sub-chartered again, to KiwiRail.[3] Before leaving for New Zealand her name was shortened to Challenger,[1] with its Māori translation, Kaitaki, also appearing on its bow, being used for marketing purposes (the other two Interislander ferries at the time, Arahura and Aratere, had Māori names). In April 2007 the ship was renamed Kaitaki.[1] Like the Kaiarahi she is an Interislander ferry without a rail deck for the transport of railway wagons.[4]
In 2009, it was announced that the initial five-year lease would be extended.[3] The lease has been renewed again on 16 April 2013 until 2017 with the option to extend another three years afterwards.[5] In May 2017, KiwiRail purchased the Kaitaki outright from the Irish Continental Group.[6][7]
References
- ^ a b c d e Asklander, Micke. "M/S Isle of Innisfree (1995)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 12 December 2008.
- ^ "Facts and Figures – Kaitaki | Interislander". Interislander. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Three more years for Interisland ferry". Wellington.Scoop. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ "Strait ferries weigh on government books". Television New Zealand. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ "KiwiRail to renew Kaitaki lease". marlborough-express. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ "KiwiRail buys the Kaitaki passenger ferry 'to secure future of Cook Strait link'". The New Zealand Herald. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ KiwiRail buys Interislander ferry Kaitaki Track & Signal August 2017 page 35
External links
Media related to Kaitaki (ship, 1995) at Wikimedia Commons