Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Several ferry services in Auckland are about to be scrapped, after Auckland Transport announced Fullers360 will no longer operate some routes.
From 1 October, Fullers will not operate the Birkenhead, Te Onewa Northcote Point and Bayswater routes.
Auckland Transport said it was committed to providing services for the affected ferry routes.
Reduced services will also be in place for the Gulf Harbour and Half Moon Bay routes for the next 14 to 18 months while an accelerated ferry crew training programme was underway.
Fullers said the changes would help it redistribute its resources to speed up training and development, to get on top of the crew shortage issues.
AT executive general manager of public transport services Stacey van der Putten said its focus was minimising the impact on commuters.
"The ongoing shortage of qualified ferry crew means it is not possible to reliably run AT's full ferry network and to train meaningful numbers of new ferry crew members at the same time."
To train the crew, they needed to use boats which meant that those vessels could not be used for normal operations, she said.
Van der Putten told Checkpoint Auckland Transport understood Fullers' decision to pull out of the services in order to train staff.
"We can't stand back and throw rocks at our operators and not do our part to help the situation."
She admitted that Auckland Transport was frantically trying to find a solution.
"We are scrambling, I think that's a fair comment in terms of trying to make sure that it's a good offer for our customers but we really are doing everything we can here."
Auckland Transport was already in conversations with local operators to take over the routes, at least for a short term contract to keep the services running, she said.
"We will likely be in a position in the next two weeks to speak further about that with confidence".
But AT was not putting all its eggs in one basket.
Van der Putten said the team was also exploring back-up plans such as shuttling commuters to other ferry terminals and additional bus services - albeit none with a direct route to the city.
"Our teams are exploring options for additional bus services to complement the existing bus routes serving customers travelling from Birkenhead, Te Onewa Northcote Point, and Bayswater, as well as customers travelling off-peak from Gulf Harbour and Half Moon Bay."
Van der Putten said while the changes would be disappointing for affected communities, the training programme would ultimately improve ferry services across the city and build "resilience in the workforce" when full services returned.
Fullers360 chief executive Mike Horne said the training would help the company progress its staff quickly through qualifications and vessel sign-offs.
"We have long signalled there is no quick fix to resolving the maritime skills shortage that has impacted Fullers360," Horne said.
"With support from Auckland Transport to redistribute our resources to accelerate training and development, we will be able to progress up to 30 qualified crew to either deckhand or skipper in the next 14-18 months."
Horne said the maritime ferry industry in New Zealand as a whole would benefit - given the shortage of skilled workers in the industry.
"Alongside our domestic and international recruitment efforts, and the improved residency pathways for skilled maritime workers, the accelerated training program will additionally provide solutions to New Zealand's shortage of skilled maritime workers through building the future pipeline of New Zealand marine talent."
Auckland Labour MP Shanan Halbert, who represents the Northcote electorate, said the suspension of the services was unacceptable and a solution had to be found
"The ferry network is Auckland Transport's responsibility and that's an important part of our overall transport network ... it's time for them to step up," he said.
