The Interislander ferry, Kaiārahi (file). Photo: Interislander
KiwiRail is investigating an Interislander ferry steering problem that saw passengers stuck on board for more than six hours on Friday.
The Kaiārahi experienced steering problems during its 3.30pm voyage across the Cook Strait to Picton. The vessel returned to Wellington as a precaution, docking at 10.05pm.
A North Island man on board, who didn't want to be named, said passengers collected their bags at 10.40pm, more than half an hour after the ship docked.
He said while in the terminal he received a text advising he had been rebooked on a Saturday morning sailing, but had already missed the event he was planning on attending.
"[We] are unsure if we will be refunded."
The passenger said the mood on board had been "fairly calm" before passengers were told at 8pm that the ship would be returning to Wellington.
"From there, while mostly calm, there was a lot of tension and stress from being unsure what was happening. There was a lot of confusion of who to contact and what would be happening," he said.
"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."
The passenger said the confusion continued once the ship had berthed, but acknowledged it was a "hugely 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."
This map shows the ferry taking its regular route between the two islands earlier in the day, as well as its path back to Wellington after the problem was discovered (at slower speed, denoted by the light green and yellow line). Photo: Screenshot / MarineTraffic
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder told RNZ crew still had "full control of the wheel", despite what he said was a "technical problem with the steering".
"As they were approaching Tory Channel and did their regular checks, they found something was behaving oddly with the steering.
"They didn't go through Tory Channel, just went out into Cook Strait to test what it was. After doing that, they decided they were going to return to Wellington."
Appropriate authorities notified - Interislander boss
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said technical staff based in Wellington would be investigating the problem.
"The issue became apparent as part of standard procedures prior to entering Tory Channel and the return to Wellington was decided on as a safety precaution rather than sailing through the Sounds," he said.
"The appropriate authorities have been notified, and we will work with our passengers and freight customers to reschedule them."
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