Eva888:

 

Seems it’s being refloated at 9am high tide.

 

That attempt was abandoned - now trying at 9 pm.

Has anyone found a livestream of the refloat attempt?

k1w1k1d:

 

With the big ferries being cancelled, are they now looking at similar sized vessels to the current ones?

 

Right now there are no ferries of any size being looked at.

According to NZ Herald, KiwiRail claim that:

“… a comprehensive maintenance programme of the ship was carried out two weeks ago. That included replacing the steering system.

We brought in experts from overseas ….” 

If that’s true then you’d expect that the replacement of the steering system - the system that allegedly failed - would be covered by warranty.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out and what will be found by the inevitable formal enquiry.

Keeping an eye on this, looks like the boat is moving https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:174.024/centery:-41.265/zoom:17

DjShadow:

 

Has anyone found a livestream of the refloat attempt?

Stuff are doing a blow by blow live description, but no video.

eracode:

 

K8Toledo:

 

Anyone else booked on the Aratere in 2016 when sailings were cancelled due to a propeller shaft sunk to the bottom of the strait?

 

 

That was a propeller  - bit hard for a shaft to sink because it’s almost wholly inside the hull - unless the whole ship goes down - which is currently not beyond the realms of possibility.

 

@eracode

It was a section of the propeller shaft with the propeller attached - as per your own link.  The shaft is not entirely inside the hull, see the rear of any modern ship design.

@K8Toledo Fair point - my apologies - I stand corrected.

The section of tail shaft was probably just the very end fitted in the propeller.  The prop was found lying flat on sea floor and there is no mention by Seaworks who recovered it that they had to cut the shaft. None of the recovery photos show anything sticking out of the propeller boss. 

Bung:

 

The section of tail shaft was probably just the very end fitted in the propeller.  The prop was found lying flat on sea floor and there is no mention by Seaworks who recovered it that they had to cut the shaft. None of the recovery photos show anything sticking out of the propeller boss. 

 

Thanks. IANA engineer but it does seem unlikely that a prop shaft would break and separate mid-shaft.

Easy Problems require Easy Solutions    

Japan does have quite a few ferries, but I expect none available for a quick sale.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html

Looks like they need them all plus more.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Supply-Chain/Japan-aims-to-double-marine-rail-shipments-to-take-load-off-truckers2

""
The government will craft a reform package that encourages wider use of ferries to transport cargo, as well as roll-on/roll-off vessels that can carry truck trailers. These RORO vessels give drivers time to rest while cruising on water.

The measures also will call for using container ships that can transfer containers between trucks, saving time on the road. Tokyo is considering providing support to companies that use these ships.
""