MV Aratika


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 MV Aratere.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "direct path" for Aratika.

History

Aratika entered service on Cook Strait as a purpose-built freighter ship in 1974, as a sister ship to 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.
In 1999, she was sold to MBRS Lines in the Philippines and served as MV Virgin Mary until 2008, when she was sold to Indian ship-breakers.

Statistics