Chris Friedman and girlfriend Alona, after the boat they were on sank in Akaroa. Photo: Chris Friedman
A passenger aboard a tourist boat that ran aground outside Akaroa Heads on Banks Peninsula on Saturday says some on board were panicked and crying, when they realised the vessel was in trouble.
More than 40 passengers and crew were evacuated to nearby boats, when the Black Cat Cruises catamaran ran into difficulty at Nikau Palm Valley Bay about 12.20pm Saturday.
The vessel was taking tourists to see the local Akaroa wildlife, including Hector's dolphins.
Passenger Chris Friedman from San Francisco said it was a stressful experience on his last day in New Zealand, but he tried to remain calm.
Friedman said they heard a loud sound, as if the boat had run over something, and thought it might be a rock, followed by a whizzing sound that could have been from the engine.
He said the vessel slowed down and, when the crew opened the hatch that went from the galley to the lower deck, they noticed a strong petrol smell.
"A few moments after that, the boat started to lift to the right, and then another few moments after that, a crew member said, 'Everybody come into the galley, we need to put on our life preservers'.
"We put on our life preservers and we saw that a number of other vessels, private vessels, were surrounding us. We were still kind of puttering along, but then we kind of came to a stop.
"Then they said, 'Please, everybody go to the top deck', and as my girlfriend and I went up to the top deck, that's when we noticed the water coming into the same side of the boat that was listing and then we also saw smoke coming in.
"I'd say that was probably around the time, between the smoke and the water, that we were becoming more concerned."
Friedman said, when he and Alona made it onto one of the other boats, they knew they were going to be OK.
"We were never really fearful that we were going to go down with the ship, but there was a teenager on board who was quite scared and was crying, and there was also an older woman who was rather traumatised."
The passengers were taken to the main wharf at Akaroa and no-one was injured.
"We're leaving and going back to San Francisco on Sunday, so certainly a memory for the trip, a memory for a lifetime, not necessarily the memory that we'd want to have, but it'll make a great story and we're just glad everybody's OK," said Friedman.
Environment Canterbury is monitoring and assessing the catamaran to minimise the impact of any fuel leaks or debris on the environment.
It said an exclusion zone was in place and all vessels must stay clear to ensure the safety of those involved in the response. It did not yet know how much fuel was on board.
"We are working alongside the owner, emergency services, the Department of Conservation, Maritime New Zealand, iwi and the local community."
Black Cat Cruises said it's the first time in more than 40 years that anything like that had happened.
It was launching an investigation and says it will work with authorities.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) also announced it would investigate the grounding, and appealled for any witnesses who saw, videoed or photographed the incident.
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