KiwiRail ‘confident’ Interislander ferry steering problem resolved

Passengers aboard an Interislander ferry were delayed for more than six hours on Friday due to a steering problem. The Kaiārahi returned to Wellington after experiencing the issue during a 3:30 p.m. voyage to Picton, docking at 10:05 p.m.

Interislander Ferry Kaiārahi Experiences Steering Issue

A passenger who wished to remain anonymous reported that passengers collected their luggage at 10:40 p.m., over thirty minutes after the ship docked. The passenger received notification of a rescheduled Saturday morning sailing via text message, but had already missed a planned event. They also expressed uncertainty about receiving a refund.

The passenger described the atmosphere on board as “fairly calm” initially, but noted increasing tension and confusion after being informed at 8 p.m. that the ferry would return to Wellington. “There was very little communication on board and the general feeling was that it would’ve been preferable to have regular updates than the few we had, which often gave us no extra information. A lot of people booked for new sailings with Bluebridge while on board,” they said.

Confusion continued after berthing, though the passenger acknowledged the challenging situation for staff. “There was a large line at enquiries and the staff in the terminal were incredibly polite but also didn’t have the information to pass on.”

Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder stated that the crew maintained “full control of the wheel” despite a “technical problem with the steering.” He explained that the issue was discovered during routine checks as the ferry approached Tory Channel, prompting a test run in Cook Strait before the decision to return to Wellington.

Issue Resolved, Service to Resume

Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said the organization is “confident” the issue has been resolved and is working with Maritime New Zealand to return the Kaiārahi to service.

“We are planning to schedule additional sailings, and we will reach out to affected passengers to accommodate them as soon as possible,” Roy said. KiwiRail is also directly contacting freight customers regarding plans to manage freight.

“Safety will always be our first priority. We deeply regret the impact of the disruption on our customers at this busy time of year and thank them for their patience.”