Wahine Disaster - The Wahine

The Wahine

TEV Wahine was a twin screw, turbo-electric, roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry designed and built specifically for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, and was one of many such ferries which together provided a widely-used transportation system connecting New Zealand's North and South Islands. Dating back to 1875, on the two-way service for which the Wahine was operated, ferries plied the waters of the Cook Strait and the Kaikoura coast on a regular basis ferrying passengers and cargo back and forth between the two islands, making port at Wellington in the north and Lyttelton in the south.

By the early 1960s, the Union Company was starting to face major competition on the inter-island route. Apart from facing increasing competition from air travel, especially with the introduction of turboprop aircraft by the National Airways Corporation, the Union Company was also facing competition from New Zealand Railways, who in August 1962 commenced a roll-on/roll-off road and rail ferry service across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton, which continues today as the Interislander. The Wahine was the Union Company's first purpose-built roll-on/roll-off ferry, introduced in an attempt to remain competitive with the roll-on/roll-off Railways ferries.

The Wahine was built by Fairfields Ltd Shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland. The plan to build the ferry was called upon by the Union Steamship Company in 1961, and her keel was laid at Fairfields Shipyards on 14 September 1964 and was designated as Hull No. 830. Built of steel, her hull was completed in just ten months, and she was christened and launched by the Union Steamship Company's director's wife on 14 July 1965. Her machinery, cargo spaces and passenger accommodations were installed in the following months and she was completed in May 1966. She departed from Greenock, Scotland for New Zealand on 18 June 1966 and arrived in Wellington on 24 July 1966, and sailed on her maiden voyage to Lyttelton one week later on 1 August.

The Wahine was 488 feet (149 m) in length and 72 feet in width, and came to a total gross register tonnage of 8,943.78 tons. At the time, she was one of the largest passenger ferries in the world. Her twin turbo-alternator engines, fueled by four boilers and connected to twin propellers, gave the ship a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h).

Her safety features also were in compliance with all the standards upheld by maritime law at the time. Her hull was divided into fourteen watertight compartments divided by thirteen watertight bulkheads, designed so that if the hull were to be penetrated in any event such as a grounding or collision with another ship, the flooding of the hull could be confined to the damaged area. As with all passenger ships built since the Titanic disaster in 1912 in which 1,500 people lost their lives due to a lack of lifeboats, the Wahine was fully equipped with enough lifeboats and rafts for all passengers and crew. The Wahine carried eight large fiberglass lifeboats, two twenty-six foot motor lifeboats each with a capacity of 50 persons, and six larger thirty-one foot standard lifeboats each with a capacity of 99 persons. In addition, thirty-six inflatable rafts were stored in various locations around the ship. Each with a capacity of twenty-five persons, the two life-saving apparatus combined provided enough for all passengers and crew.

The Wahine was on an average crossing operated by a crew of 126. In the deck department, the Master, three officers, one radio operator and nineteen sailors managed the overall operation of the ship. In the engine department, eight engineers, two electricians, one donkeyman and twelve general workers supervised the operation of the engines. Finally, within the victualing department, sixty stewards, seven stewardesses, five cooks and four pursers catered to the needs of the passengers.

The passenger carrying capacity of the Wahine fluctuated between two settings. On trips between ports made during the day, the Wahine could carry 1,050 passengers, while on overnight crossings her passenger capacity fell to 924. On overnight crossings, passengers were quartered in a varied assortment of over three hundred single, two, three and four berth cabins, designed to cater to singles, married couples, families and larger traveling groups. In addition, two larger dormitory-style cabins were also aboard, each capable of housing twelve passengers. Common areas for passengers included a cafeteria, lounge, smoke room and gift shop, as well as access to both two enclosed promenades and the open decks.