''M.V. Kea'' (sometimes called the ''Seabus Kea'') is a commercial passenger

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

that operates the busy New Zealand Devonport-Downtown Auckland express route for

Fullers Ferries Fullers Group Limited, trading as Fullers360, is a ferry and tourism company in Auckland, New Zealand. It operates in the Hauraki Gulf and Waitemata Harbour. Fullers Group is the latest in a long line of almost continuous harbour and gulf ferry ...

( Auckland's largest ferry operator). The Kea operates a regular service departing from Downtown Auckland every half-hour.Destination History - Devonport
(from the

website. Retrieved 14 September 2007.) The Kea entered service in 1988 as the 14th ferry of the company. The bridge area forms a third deck. Her distinctive design is similar to earlier Auckland ferries 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 enables 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. Fullers would also prefer to commission a second ferry for the Devonport service. However (as of 2007) the investment of around NZ$4.5 million for a duplicate of the Kea is considered too risky. In 2006, the Kea was involved in a minor collision at the Auckland Ferry Terminal with the moored Starflyte, due to steering failure. In February 2015, the Kea was again involved in a collision, this time at the Devonport Ferry Terminal, no other vessel was involved.

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline, Kea (ship, 1988) Ferries of New Zealand Public transport in Auckland