Interislander

Infobox Company
name = The Interislander
"Ngā Waka (Maori)"
company_
type = Private company
parent = KiwiRail Holdings Ltd
foundation = 1962 (as a division of NZR)
location_city = Wellington
location_country = New Zealand
location =
locations =
key_people =
area_served = Cook Strait, New Zealand
industry = Rail transport in New Zealand
Ferry transport
products =
services = Inter-island ferries
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
divisions = Interislander (passenger)
Interislander Freight (freight)
subsid =
slogan =
homepage = [http://www.interislander.co.nz/ http://www.interislander.co.nz]
dissolved =
footnotes =
intl = yes

The Interislander is a ferry service across Cook Strait between the north and south islands of New Zealand, between Picton and Wellington. It operates three vessels, connecting with KiwiRail services. The service carries about one million passengers and 230,000 vehicles per year on 5,700 sailings.Fact|date=July 2008

History

The division began as the New Zealand Railways Department's inter-island ferry service, and prior to being named The Interislander in 1989 was known as "SeaRail" under the New Zealand Railways Corporation.

The Interislander has in the past few years been investigated for several incidents involving its fleet. There are currently several investigations under way by Maritime NZ in relation to endangering passengers on various Cook Strait crossings during rough sea conditions. On August 23 2007 two of these investigations were reported with the opinion of Maritime NZ being that the Interislander line did not place passengers in danger.Fact|date=July 2008

On 1 July 2008 the New Zealand Government purchased Toll NZ Ltd, including the Interislander, becoming part of KiwiRail.

ervices

* Journey time: 3 hours; 3 hours 10 minutes for "Kaitaki"
* Distance: 92 kilometres (57.5 miles)
* Arahura in Maori means "Pathway to dawn"
* Aratere in Maori means "Quick path"
* Kaitaki in Maori means "Challenger"

Vessels

Current fleet:
* MV "Arahura" (rail/road/passenger, built 1982)
* MV "Aratere" (rail/road/passenger, built 1999)
* (road/passenger, built 1995 as "Isle of Innisfree"; chartered by Interislander in 2005 under the name "Challenger"; renamed "Kaitaki" 2007)

Former fleet:
* MV "Aramoana" (rail/road/passenger, 1962-1985)
* (rail/road/passenger, 1966-1985)
* (rail/road/passenger, 1972-2001)
* MV "Aratika" (rail/road/passenger, 1974-1999)
* (road freight only, to 2006)

"The Lynx": Various High Speed Craft (HSC) have operated under this marketing name (all road/passenger):
* (chartered from Condor Ferries summer 1994, 1995)
* (chartered from Condor Ferries 1995-1999)
* (chartered 2000-2002)
* (also known as the "Devil Cat", chartered 2003-2005)

References

External links

* [http://www.interislander.co.nz/ www.interislander.co.nz] (official site)