MV Aratika

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The MV Aratika was a ferry that served the Interisland Line, taking passengers between Wellington and Picton in New Zealand. The aging Aratika, was replaced in 1999 by the since problem-plagued MV Aratere.

[edit] History

The Aratika entered service on Cook Strait as a purpose-built freighter ship in 1974, as a sister ship to the Arahanga. In 1976 the ship went to Hong Kong for a NZ$7m dollar rebuild, that increased her passenger capacity from 10 to 840, and her car space from 4 to 70.

During her 25 years of service she had completed 27,265 crossings and traveled an overall distance of 1.4 million miles.

She is now a ferry resident in South-East Asia.