 Kea at Silo Park | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | |
| Namesake | Kea |
| Owner | Fullers360 |
| Builder | WECO |
| Commissioned | 1988 |
| Out of service | 2020 |
| Home port | Auckland |
| Fate | Scrapped in 2023 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Commercial Passenger Ferry |
| Displacement | 341 tons 1 |
| Length | 27.09 metres2 |
| Beam | 10 metres2 |
| Speed | 12 knots2 |
| Complement | 411 passengers |
| Crew | 2 |
M.V. Kea (sometimes called the Seabus Kea) was a commercial passenger ferry that operated the busy New Zealand Devonport-Downtown Auckland express route for Fullers360 (Auckland's largest ferry operator). The Kea operated a regular service departing from Downtown Auckland every half-hour.3
The Kea entered service in 1988 as the 14th ferry of the company.4
The bridge area formed a third deck. Her distinctive design is similar to earlier Auckland ferries, such as the Kestrel,5 in that she is longitudinally symmetrical, effectively meaning that she can be driven both ways, so that no U-Turns at the starts or finishes of crossings have to be made. This enabled the Kea to maintain a half-hourly express service between Downtown Auckland and Devonport.
In 2007, she was removed from the water and given a substantial overhaul in a shipyard in the Western Reclamation, including major work on both engines.6
In 2006, the Kea was involved in a minor collision at the Auckland Ferry Terminal with the moored Starflyte, due to steering failure.1
In February 2015, the Kea was again involved in a collision, this time at the Devonport Ferry Terminal. No other vessel was involved.7
In 2020, the Kea was withdrawn from service.8 In 2023, she was towed to Whangārei and scrapped.9
References
References
- "Accident Summary March 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
- "Happy 21st Birthday Kea!" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- Destination History - Devonport Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (from the Fullers360 website. Retrieved 14 September 2007.)
- Company History - Growth in services (from the Fullers360 website)
- Orsman, Bernard (16 October 2018). "Historic ferry vessel will be sunk unless a new berth is found at Auckland's Wynyard Quarter". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- Maintenance programme nears completion - The Waiheke Week, 26 July 2007 Page 9
- "Ferry slams into Devonport Wharf". Stuff. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- Hurley, Sam. "Troubled waters: Auckland ferry's 7 collisions and $155k fine". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- "Fuller's old Tamaki Devonport ferry Kea leaves Auckland one last time under tow to Whangarei". facebook.com.