Cook Strait rescue capability compromised

Maritime emergency rescue capability in Cook Strait has been compromised – say Greater Wellington Chair Daran Ponter and Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor – with open-ocean tugboat MMA Vision off contract this month.

“The absence of a dedicated rescue vessel for Cook Strait poses unacceptable risks,” says Cr Ponter. “Cancelling the MMA Vision contract puts lives and economic lifelines in peril.”

Mayor Taylor strongly supports this sentiment, adding “Cook Strait is one of the most complex stretches of water in the world to navigate. It’s also a shipping route of national significance where the government is responsible for safety”.

In a letter to the Minister of Transport, Cr Ponter and Mayor Taylor call for an extension of the MMA Vision contract until an equivalent vessel can be commissioned more affordably. They say at stake are:

• Human safety: A major mechanical failure or grounding of a large vessel in severe weather could endanger hundreds of lives.
• Financial stability: Every day, freight worth millions is shipped through Cook Strait, where a disaster could result in a ruinous loss of productivity and logistical delays. 
• Environmental health: A fuel spill would cause a costly clean-up and long-term ecological damage, as well as international media coverage impacting tourism.

Termination of the MMA Vision contract was signalled in November 2026, when the government announced the purchase of new ferries with enhanced safety features – due in service in 2029.

“Until then, we rely on an ageing fleet of ferries, plagued by a well-documented history of breakdowns to carry thousands of New Zealanders and visitors between the North and South islands,” Mayor Taylor says. 

“And new ferries are not immune to disaster,” says Cr Ponter. “The Wahine was only two years old when it capsized and sank in the mouth of Wellington Harbour – with the loss of 53 lives.”

Each year, Cook Strait ferries sail over a million passengers, and freight worth $14 billion between North and South Islands markets. Half a million cruise ship passengers, as well as hundreds of commercial vessels and fishing boats also pass through Cook Strait annually. 

Cabinet papers show the rescue of large vessels in Cook Strait will be resolved from February by “relying on commercially available vessels to provide towing responses if required, noting these might not always be available in New Zealand waters”.

“From July, the closest ship that can tow large vessels stricken in Cook Strait will be 1200 nautical miles away,” says Cr Ponter. “That’s about five days of travel time.

“We cannot depend on harbour tugs for open-ocean rescues. They are not designed, equipped or crewed for towing large vessels in Cook Strait – where conditions are frequently beyond their operating parameters.” 

“There have been multiple near-miss incidents in Cook Strait over the past five years,” says Mayor Taylor.

“We urge the government to maintain enhanced emergency response capability in this beautiful yet treacherous stretch of sea at the heart of our country.”