Rakiura Stewart Island has just become a little more accessible to disabled visitors using the ferry, thanks to a new wheelchair transfer system.

The system enables passengers to remain in the comfort of their wheelchair as they are safely transferred from shore to vessel and vice versa.

Alisha Mill was just the second person to use it, as she travelled from Bluff to Oban.

Melissa, Matt & Alisha Mill who recently travelled to Rakiura Stewart Island to visit Alisha's sister Skyla (left). Photo: RealNZ

“I thought it was an enjoyable experience compared to the last time I went over to the island,” said Mill.

“I would highly recommend fellow wheelchair users to use this service to see Rakiura. This has made it easier to go on the ferry to be able to see my sister who works on the island.”

At just under a metre wide (800mm) and 2100mm long, the wheelchair transfer system has restraints, handrails and wheel stops built into the design and holds weight of up to 500kg.

The ferry's cranes have also been upgraded, with additional safety features to ensure they remain fully functional in the unlikely event of the vessel losing power or a fault developing with the crane’s hydraulics.

“There’s nothing like it in New Zealand, we have had to design the transfer system from scratch using a combination of standards and codes of practise to ensure it is fully compliant and suitable from an end user perspective.

Transferring a person in their wheelchair using a crane, is not an activity that is covered by any specific standard or regulation and therefore the solution has had to be an amalgam,” said RealNZ Head of asset management Chris Fleck.   

The wheelchair transfer system must be booked in advance to ensure it is available at the port.