The Chatham Islands have run out of both petrol and diesel, with plans to bring a barge with fuel falling through.
An island resident told chrislynchmedia.com that council-owned pumps ran out of petrol in May, along with diesel two days ago.
A notice on the Chatham Islands Council website, last updated on 24 May, said “As everyone knows, we’ve been unable to get a ship over from New Zealand for several weeks, which has seen us run out of petrol at the pumps currently managed by the council. We are doing everything we can to arrange an alternative re-supply of fuel. We are sorry for the impact that this will have on everyone with petrol vehicles and machinery.”
Following a request to the council today by chrislynchmedia.com as to why this situation was ongoing, the council updated their Facebook page for the first time since May: “The plans to bring a barge with essential fuel to the island have fallen through. We understand the urgency required, and we are working with others from across the island and New Zealand to get fuel here as soon as possible.”
The resident told chrislynchmedia.com, “The boat that usually has our supplies is dry dock until about mid July. Our island runs on diesel so we could potentially run out of power island-wide.”
The island relies on supplies brought to them by the ship Southern Tiare but it is currently undergoing repairs, with authorities unable to arrange alternative shipping.
The Chatham Islands Shipping Ltd website said, “We operate a single vessel the MV Southern Tiare between all ports. The ship is a versatile unit, having been adapted for the carriage of livestock, also it is designed for both break bulk and containerised product including dry, frozen and chilled.”
The 2022 Budget promised the island $30 million for a new vessel. This is yet to eventuate.
The resident said, “Farmers haven’t been able to get stock off island since the start of the year. It’s appalling”
“A barge has been meaning to come and deliver the diesel and petrol for the last month or so but there’s always an excuse as to why it can’t come. It set sail a couple days ago and then went back to Auckland Port,” the local said.
“Chathams’ residents need light on this situation. The council needs to do better so does the shipping company. People can’t drive, fishermen can’t fish/dive, farmers can’t farm,” they said.
The Chatham local said it is the second year in a row the island has run out of both fuels.
“We haven’t lost power as of yet but have been very, very close to it,” they said.
Specific questions put to the council had not been returned at time of publishing.
