Some Thursday morning sailings of the Aratere ferry have been cancelled. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Passengers on the beleaguered Aratere ferry were stuck on board for hours overnight after it broke down on its way to Wellington.
KiwiRail said the ferry left Picton at about 8.50pm, but then "experienced an unexpected issue with its propulsion drive" while sailing.
That issue was fixed at about 1am and the vessel resumed its trip to Wellington, with a new expected arrival time of about 5am on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, we will have to cancel the 6.15am Thursday morning sailing from Wellington to Picton and the 11.00am Picton to Wellington return sailing while we undertake further testing," a spokesperson said.
KiwiRail subsequently cancelled its 4pm sailing, as it continued to search for the cause of the problem.
"Interislander's customer service teams are currently amending bookings due to these cancellations. All affected customers will be offered an alternative sailing. If the alternative sailing is not suitable, passengers are welcome to reschedule for no additional cost.
"We apologise for the inconvenience."
Seven commercial vehicle drivers and four foot passengers were on board the ferry while it was anchored for hours, waiting for a specialist electrician to arrive.
"We are looking after the customers on board and once the vessel returns to port, we will transfer them to alternative sailings," the spokesperson earlier said.
It was initially expected the vessel would need to return to its Picton berth and a tug was on stand-by to provide assistance.
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy told Morning Report that a part which powered the ship's engine failed.
"Normally when these things trip you can reset them but this one didn't so they went through a series of logical checks and got it back into a controlled state," he said.
Roy said that the ferry did not face any risk and was always under at least 50 percent power.
He said sailings were cancelled this morning so that the Cook Strait ferry service could do a deep dive on the issue.
Roy said that the problem would be resolved today.
In April, another electrical fault on the Aratere, with a hydraulic pump, saw a Wellington to Picton crossing and its return journey cancelled.
The Aratere docked in Wellington early Thursday morning. Photo: RNZ / Nick James
Breakdown comes just two months before ferry's retirement
The Aratere made headlines when it ran aground last year.
It beached in Titoki Bay, near Picton, on 21 June, after its steering autopilot was mistakenly engaged and staff were unable to switch it off. It was refloated on 23 June.
Last month, KiwiRail announced the ferry would be retired by the end of August to make way for the construction of new port infrastructure in Picton.
The ferry - which can hold 650 passengers, 230 cars and 28 rail wagons - is the only rail-enabled ferry in Interislander's fleet, and requires specialised loading and unloading infrastructure.
Two new rail-enabled ferries are not due to arrive until 2029.
Announcing its retirement, Rail Minister Winston Peters said it would have cost $120 million to keep the Aratere in service.
"We will not waste one tax dollar on shuffling infrastructure to keep the vessel in service for the sake of it or add any infrastructure risk to our objective of completion in 2029."
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