There’s good news for east Auckland residents who use the Half Moon Bay ferry.
Auckland Transport (AT) says it’s reinstating ferry services sooner than expected after they were paused to address a skilled maritime crew shortage.
The agency has been working with Fullers360 on the issue and says it temporarily reduced some ferry timetables to help the company undertake an accelerated training programme.
It’s gone so well that AT will have some ferry services back to their regular timetables earlier than expected, says director of public transport and active modes Stacey van der Putten.
“We’re really pleased Fullers360 has been able to use this time to get more crew trained and ready to go out on the water.
“The temporary reduction in ferry services has not been easy for our customers, and though we still have work to do to get our ferry services back at the level they should be, we’re thrilled to be able to bring some back ahead of schedule.”
On June 4, the Devonport ferry will return to a 20-minute frequency during peak times.
Weekday off-peak (from 10am-2pm) and evening sailings (until 9pm) for Half Moon Bay will be coming back as well, along with additional Friday night services (until 12.30am).
Later in the year, there will also be more Gulf Harbour ferry services added during the week, and AT is aiming to resume weekend sailings to Half Moon Bay in early 2025.
Fullers360 marine manager Andy Johnson says he’s proud of his crew and the success of the accelerated training programme.
“I’m incredibly proud of our crew and pleased to see the accelerated training programme delivering the results we set out to see.
“To date, the programme has seen us upskill our crew with more than 700 individual vessel signoffs achieved, as well as 10 skippers and 20 new deckhands having been appointed.
“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we work hard to get services back up and running.
“With more qualified maritime crew, we’re now able to reinstate some services and see greater resilience within the ferry network.”
