Photo: SuppliedKiwiRail says it is putting more time into maintaining its Cook Strait ferry fleet after assessments by international experts. The fate of the three ageing ferries hangs in the balance after KiwiRail was forced to cancel an order for two new ships and put ferry terminal redevelopment on hold. Norwegian maritime experts Det Norske Veritas visited New Zealand last month as part of their checks. As a result, KiwiRail had added more weekly and monthly maintenance checks, and longer time in dry docks for serious maintenance work. It had to write down the value of its assets by almost $450m, forcing it into a big deficit, after the terminal and ferry upgrade project was scrapped.
