By Samantha Gee/RNZ
The former Interislander ferry Aratere has spent five months in New Zealand waters since being retired, with the foreign crew onboard earning below minimum wage, as it waits for permission to enter India.
KiwiRail retired the ferry last year and announced in October it had been sold to a buyer who would deliver it to a specialist recycling shipyard in India.
The ship has since been renamed Vega, the Interislander logos painted over, and flagged to Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. Contracts show it is registered to Jahaj Solutions (F.Z.E), which is based in the United Arab Emirates.
Since December, it has been anchored in Tasman Bay and it is still unclear when it will leave New Zealand.
Earlier this month, the Maritime Union of NZ said it had serious concerns about the pay of the foreign crew onboard the Vega, which it said was significantly below international and domestic benchmarks.
Associate Transport Minister James Meager said the Maritime Labour Convention, an international treaty that New Zealand has signed, included standards for seafarer's pay.
"How these standards apply to the crew of the Vega is up to the country where the ship is registered. The Vega's flag state is Saint Kitts and Nevis so the responsibility for the application of these standards sits with them."
Meager said the government took the safety of seafarers seriously and he had been told by officials who had visited the crew onboard that no welfare concerns had been raised with them.
A Maritime NZ spokesperson said it recently undertook a welfare and safety check of the vessel and found the crew was being adequately provided for and their needs were being met. It was maintaining contact with all parties involved and would continue to monitor the situation.
Immigration New Zealand visa director Peter Elms said the crew of the Vega held visitor visas that permitted them to work on that particular vessel, as it intended to leave New Zealand.
RNZ understands there are around 20 crew from India on board who had signed new contracts since the union first raised concerns about their pay.
The old contracts viewed by the union showed an able seaman on board the ship was being paid a basic wage of US$206 (NZ$340) per month.
That was significantly below the ILO minimum basic wage for an able seafarer, which rose to US$690 (NZ$1140) per month on 1 January 2026.
New Zealand is a founding member of the International Labour Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency dedicated to promoting social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights.
While the organisation provides international standards and guidance on minimum wages, it is up to individual countries to apply these through their own laws.
Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay said he had been told the crew had signed new agreements in line with ILO standards, but the union said that was still not good enough.
"Their pay rates are still well below what New Zealanders would be paid to work in the waters on their coast."
He said the seafarers onboard the Vega were in a tricky situation as they were stranded in New Zealand with no date for departure, which was a real concern.
Reflagging vessels involved changing a ship's registration to a different country, often to a "flag of convenience" with lax regulations to avoid strict environmental, safety, labour, or sanction laws.
"This is happening all over the world, on a daily basis, it's a terrible, terrible problem and we don't want it to creep any further into New Zealand or Australia."
In 2012, the government announced that all foreign-owned fishing vessels operating in New Zealand waters needed to be flagged to New Zealand, to address labour, safety and fisheries practice concerns.
Findlay said action needed to be taken to do the same for other foreign-owned vessels and the Maritime Union would be lobbying the government to make changes.
The Vega is due to be dismantled in India, a practice considered sustainable as it allows materials to be recycled, although there are documented concerns over the environmental, health and safety standards in the industry, and the risks to workers in developing countries where health and safety regulations are poor.
In New Zealand, the Environmental Protection Authority is responsible for making sure the country meets its obligations to the Basel Convention - an international treaty which controls the movement of hazardous waste.
A spokesperson for the EPA said the application for the ship's export was complete but it still had not received an update from the Competent Authority in India about the requested import consent.
Until that had been received and an export permit issued, the vessel could be exported.
RNZ understands there are plans for the Vega to come into Port Nelson towards the end of the month, for re-provisioning and refuelling.
