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• The Interislander Aratere ferry was successfully refloated around 9:20pm nearly 24 hours after it ran aground in Picton Harbour
• Independent investigations are underway by Maritime NZ and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
• Transport Minister Simeon Brown: “What we have seen happen is incredibly concerning”.
• KiwiRail can’t say when the ferry would return to service

The boss of KiwiRail has defended the safety of his ships after the Interislander ferry Aratere was successfully refloated nearly 24 hours after it ran aground in Picton Harbour, stranding nearly 50 people on the vessel overnight.

At 9pm, Aratere was refloated by KiwiRail supported by a team of global experts and in collaboration with Maritime NZ (MNZ), Port Marlborough New Zealand (PMNZ), and Marlborough District Council Harbour Master.

KiwiRail’s chief executive Peter Reidy said this was a small mark on what has been a successful year for the ferries.

“I’d take my own family on those ships right now,” Reidy told media at a press conference this morning.

“We are very disappointed with what has happened over the past 24 hours,” he said.

Interislander General Manager Duncan Roy said the hull was watertight and the ferry would be brought into port this morning.

There are some “admin and processes” still to go through before the full investigation can get underway.

He said last night’s full moon and high tide were essential for refloating the ship.

Roy said there was little to go on, but there was “little damage” to the ship.

He would not speculate on what occurred on Friday that led to the grounding of the boat.

Roy said a new steering system was installed on the ship recently.

He said the new system was “state of the art” and would not say if it might have played a part in the grounding.

Roy said the ship would be moved to a “more permanent berth” on Monday.

Reidy said they know this incident is extremely disruptive for their customers and appreciate patience as they work with them to organise alternative arrangements.

“The Aratere crew are onboard and safe. We need to rebalance the weight of the vessel before it can move into the wharf and have its hull fully examined. Maritime New Zealand, TAIC and KiwiRail are all undertaking investigations.

“Because safety is paramount, Aratere will not operate until it has been released by Maritime New Zealand. At this stage we cannot give a timeframe for its return to service.”

Maritime NZ to place Aratere under detention order

Maritime NZ inspectors will place the Aratere under a detention order when it arrives in Picton, director Kirstie Hewlett said.

“This will enable Maritime NZ to work closely with Aratere’s Classification Society and KiwiRail to understand what has occurred, and what action needs to happen, before the vessel is able to move safely again and can be released.

Hewlett said the Maritime NZ investigators will also today start an investigation into the grounding.

“They will carry out interviews, examine the scene and ferry, review documents and gather evidence. We will then decide what, if any, further action to take.”

The investigation is expected to take several months to complete.

A member of the public reaches out to touch the bow of the stranded Interislander ferry Aratere in Picton.

The ferry hit the South Island coastline just after 10pm on Friday, with the Maritime Union warning the failure could have been disastrous had it occurred in bad weather.

Forty-seven people - eight commercial truck drivers and 39 crew - spent the night on the grounded ferry, and by 10am yesterday had been onboard for nearly 13 hours. The drivers and 12 of the crew disembarked before 11am.

Divers were sent down earlier in the day to investigate the ship’s hull and gather more information about how badly the vessel had run aground.

Picton’s deputy harbour master, two pilots and the port’s manager were among experts to have boarded the vessel overnight as authorities considered how to tow it back to the town’s port.

Ship tracking sites showed Picton tugboats Maungatea and Monowai lined up behind the Aratere’s stern early in the morning, while other support vessels were also in place onsite.

A 500m exclusion zone had been put in place around the stranded vessel while booms and floating barriers were in place in case of an oil spill.

Malborough’s Harbourmaster Jake Oliver earlier announced the attempt to refloat the stranded Interislander ferry would start at 9pm and likely take several hours.

Oliver said if the refloat was successful the Aratere would then be anchored, stabilised and tomorrow it would be moved to a berth.

Speaking after a briefing about the incident with Maritime NZ, KiwiRail, Interislander and port authorities yesterday afternoon, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said it was great there had been no loss of life and everyone onboard the ship was safe.

He said there were question marks about how a recently installed piece of equipment on Aretere had responded.

“It’s to do with how the rudders work. It is my understanding that they lost the ability to steer the ship.”

Brown said there was a lot of technical work to refloat a ship.

“There is water in the ballast, which needed to be moved to the right place, among other factors and that’s around moving vehicles within it to rebalance it, make sure it’s balanced in the right way.

”It’s a lot of work to be done to do that. Ballast water had to be moved to the right part of the ship.”

The stranded Interislander ferry Aratere, Picton in Marlborough Sounds.

The Minister said independent investigations were underway by Maritime NZ and Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

“Ministers have made their expectation clear that KiwiRail must take all steps necessary to maintain the safety and reliability of their ferries, and ministers have been disappointed with the state of the asset management we have seen from KiwiRail.

“A safe and reliable Cook Strait crossing is critical to New Zealand’s transport network which is why the Government is committed to making the investment required to support resilience shipping across the strait, including new ships.

“But we also have to get the right ships for the job and KiwiRail must maintain its existing ships to the safe standard required.”

He said when they came into Government they were “very disappointed” at the state of asset management.

“What we have seen happen is incredibly concerning.”

A kayaker paddles past the stranded Interislander ferry Aratere in Picton.

Brown said he had received advice from Kiwi Rail during recent months that the asset management was improving significantly.

“Which is pleasing, but there is clearly more work to be done.”

He said the whole incident has been incredibly disappointing and concerning and now the appropriate thing to happen is the investigation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Brown said the replacement of the Cook Strait ferries is a priority for the Government.

“We have set aside significant capital in the multi-year capital allowance not just for this but for a range of infrastructure projects across New Zealand.”

Reidy said he could not speculate on what caused the incident.

“Today’s focus is to recover the ship, I think any other discussions about any other items are for another day,” he said at Picton Marina.

Reidy and Roy spoke to media at Picton Marina yesterday after the eight passengers onboard and 12 of the 39 crew had disembarked.

It’s believed the ferry ran aground on a gravel seabed and not jagged rocks, Reidy said.

“But we are taking technical advice from global experts on the best way to recover the ship.”

Reidy said the ferry had experienced issues with the electrical system on the steering that had just been “fully upgraded” but the follow-up investigation would look into that further.

While he wouldn’t talk about the disruption to the country caused by the incident, he said Cook Strait formed a part of State Highway 1 that traversed the entire country and provided a $40 billion connection for the country between the North and South islands.