Fast Ferry Debacle in the Queen Charlotte Sounds

In the early 1960’s the Inter-Island Ferry ‘Tamahine’, which travelled at a speed of 14 knots through the Sounds, was replaced by the new generation roll-on, roll-off ferry, the ‘Aramoana’. The ‘Aramoana’ had a service speed of 17 knots. In a very short time our residents started to notice the fine sand being stripped off the beaches. Agreement was reached between the Sounds Settlers, and N.Z.Rail to reduce the speed to 14 knots upon entering the Sounds. ‘Aramoana’ was followed by her sister ships the ‘Aranui’, ‘Arahanga’, ‘Aratika’, ‘Arahura’.and the latest, the ‘Aratere’.

N.Z.Rail was sold, purchased by the American multi-national Wisconsin Rail and re-named, Tranz Rail. Unfortunately, the 14-knot speed limit agreement was dishonoured and discontinued.

1994 saw the introduction of the ‘Albeyzen’, a high speed mono-hull, by a company called Sea Shuttle, owned by Brooke Mckenzie and capable of travelling at 36 knots or more. Tranz Rail saw this as a serious threat to their monopoly, moved quickly and leased the ‘Lynx’, a first-generation high-speed catamaran capable of travelling at 38 knots. This was the beginning of a new era in shipping, one that everyone was excited about. New technology: We are all fascinated by speed.

The buzz didn’t last long however. Because of the size of their wake, the effects the new “fast ferries” had on the environment and the threat to human safety were catastrophic!

Before and after photos of beautiful Golden Sand beach up the Grove Arm 2 miles from the Ferry route. This beach was home to a well established pipi bed completely stripped of sand right down to the Bed rock.

The property owners in Tory Channel acted quickly and applied for an injunction to stop the ferries. The application was supported by the Department of Conservation and Te Atiawa, the local Iwi.

The Marlborough District Council, after having received advice from the Planning Tribunal, refused to support the injunction.

The case was heard in the Environment Court by Judge Tredwell who ruled that the Sounds was an established shipping lane that was of “national importance”.

He refused to acknowledge the environmental damage. He said that the ferry wash had caused not damage, but “change” and that the Sounds environment had reached “a new equilibrium”.

Not only did he decline the injunction , but he awarded costs against the applicants, to the tune of $300,000.

This decision was significant on 3 counts:

1. The carnage was able to continue.
2. It represented a significant narrowing of the applicability of the Resource Management Act.
3. By awarding costs against the community, it sent a very strong message to community groups and agencies not to challenge big business, because they had the backing of the National Government, and the justice system.

1995 saw the arrival of the new generation fast ferry from the Incat factory, capable of travelling at 48 knots.

We now had 2 fast ferries on the same timetable running only 3 minutes apart and racing each other up the Sounds.

So much for Tredwell’s “New Equilibrium”!

The damage to the environment and property, and the threat to people’s safety was so great that the ‘Soundies’
( people who live in the Marlborough Sounds, many of them families that have lived here for generations) formed an incorporated society called ‘Guardians Of The Sounds’ to give the community an officially recognised voice.

These shots show the draw back similar to Tsunami. If it wasn’t for the sea wall, the Lazy Fish Guest House would have been undermined.

The fast ferries stripped between 600mm and one metre of sand off all the beaches along their route and beyond, some right down to the base pan. With the sand went the shellfish beds, pipis and cockles. In Tory Channel, the entire ecosystem was devastated. The kelp was torn from the rocks. All of the kaimoana, paua, kinas, starfish, oysters and mussels that live by attaching themselves to rocks were smashed when the rocks were rolled along the bottom by the force of the waves.

The banks were undermined, resulting in severe erosion. Up to 3 metres disappeared off some headlands and frontages. Moioio Island in the channel had the entire northern end of the island washed away. This is an Uru Pa, (burial ground) a wahitapu (sacred) site. Many of the remains were washed away. The erosion caused the water to be dirty the whole time. The clay and silt was deposited on the bottom. The fish moved. The devastation was complete. It got so bad that you could turn over a rock and not even find a crab.

At this property the wharf was smashed and thrown up on top of the beach. The boat shed rails completely covered with debris. Note the large rocks and boulders thrown up on top of the wharf and paths.

Wharves, slipways and boatsheds were smashed and washed away. If boats were caught alongside jetties they were smashed. Some boats were capsized, others swamped. There were a number of injuries resulting from people getting thrown about in their boats. Others were injured while trying to hold their boats off the beaches. People were swept off the beaches, and tipped out of dinghies.

‘Guardians’ sought help from the Department of Conservation, Marlborough District Council and Iwi. We were told by all of them, “Don’t fight battles you can’t win!” This was because of Tredwell’s Environment Court decision, and his awarding costs. So, we decided to fight this campaign on safety grounds. Technically, the shipping companies weren’t breaking any laws because the MDC had allowed them to operate as a “permitted activity”. They didn’t have to comply with the Resource Management Act. We compiled evidence of accidents and incidents between ferries and small craft and petitioned the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) and the Marlborough District Council.

After much argument the Marlborough District Council agreed to create a Bylaw to slow the fast ferries only, to 18 knots. They first commissioned a “Risk Management Inquiry”, that deduced from the accident reports that there was likely to be a fatality once in every 5 years, and recommended that the fast ferries be slowed in the Sounds. The Maritime Safety Authority would not acknowledge the Report. Council then contracted a social impact study, called the Corydon Report. They conducted a public submission process to ascertain if the people of Marlborough wanted the ferries slowed or not. During this process the shipping companies’ lawyers both threatened to sue the MDC councillors individually if they voted for the Bylaw. However, the Bylaw was implemented and the speed restricted to 18 knots. The ships also had to be fitted with transponders so that the Harbourmaster can check their speed and position if an incident should arise. The Bylaw applies only to fast ferries and not conventional ships.

The MDC are currently working on a variation to the Sounds Plan. Once in place, all ships using the Sounds that are over 500 tons will have to comply with a speed restriction. There is an exemption clause that will allow vessels to go faster, provided they can comply with a wave height standard. Once this law is in place, it will mean that all ships will have to comply with a standard that is enforceable under the Resource Management Act.

Following the implementation of the 18-knot speed restriction, we have seen a measure of recovery. The water is clearer, some of the sand has returned, in some places up to half what it was. The kelp beds are recovering and so is the kaimoana. The crabs are back! The negative side is that the Aratere and Arahura are still going far too fast, up to 25knots. Our old people got it right 30 years ago: Any ship that exceeds 14 knots will cause damage. If we restrict the speed to that, and carry out regular monitoring, with a change of speed limit if necessary, there is no reason why the Sounds ecology shouldn’t be able to recover to what Mother Nature intended it to be.

The Fast Ferry Campaign shows that democracy does work, but depends upon the communities getting behind, and supporting the agencies that are working on our behalf. No laws are cast in stone. If they are not working for the community or the environment, we can work together and change them.

The following series of shots is typical of the situation all sounds users face. From when you saw the ferry go past to when the wave hit the beach took 2 minutes. The Sounds was instantly transformed from tranquil calm to breaking surf. You couldn’t row to safety or get your boat off of the beach in 2 minutes. So you got smashed or swamped. Many jetties got wrecked.

The guy in the deck chair is in for a rude awakening. Roofing iron had to be replaced because spray went over the roof. The concrete block wall was smashed and broken.