The lawyer representing the Aratere bridge crew responds is indicating both the introduction of a new steering system, and training of crew in it, are factors that will be raised in the investigation into the grounding of the ferry.
An internal safety bulletin, which has been leaked to media, was sent to masters and deck officers on July 5th.
It says the crew pressed the wrong button and engaged autopilot, and sent the ship of course, in the grounding event of June 21st.
The safety bulletin says crew did not take back control of the ship from the autopilot until it was too late.
The document the crew noticed the ship taking a wrong turn after passing Mabel Island, but around a minute passed before... astern propulsion was utilised,
However, it was too late late and the vessel ran aground in Titoki Bay.
The ship ran aground just out of Picton on June 21 and the ship has only just returned to service.
The safety bulletin goes on to say that while investigations are under way for a fuller picture of what happened - "it's unlikely the following causes will change significantly."
Troy Stade is a lawyer acting for the Merchant Service Guild.
His firm is acting for and representing the bridge crew during the various investigations and interviews they will take part in.
He told me the staff operating this ship are experienced and have made this crossing thousands of times.
A key part of the investigation is expected to focus on whether crew knew how to correctly override the autopilot on a recently installed steering system - part of a complex system.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
