Authorities have abandoned plans to attempt to refloat the stricken Interislander ferry Aratere at 9am as they instead send down divers to gather more information about how badly the vessel has run aground.

The ferry hit the South Island coastline near Picton just after 10pm on Friday night after suffering a steering failure.

Forty-seven people - eight commercial truck drivers and 39 crew - spent the night onboard the grounded ferry, and by 9am had been onboard the ship for nearly 12 hours

Picton’s deputy harbour master, two pilots and the port’s manager are among experts to have boarded the vessel overnight as authorities consider how to tow the vessel back to the city’s port.

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

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has confirmed it will be investigating the incident, while KiwiRail bosses are flying from Auckland to Picton to help with the recovery operation.

The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground after a steering failure just out of Picton after 10pm on Friday. Photo: Renee Horncastle.

Marlborough District Council mayor Nadine Taylor is among those to have sat in on a morning briefing on the situation. Initial plans had been to launch an operation to refloat the ferry on 9am’s high tide.

But after consideration, authorities said they needed more information, Nadine says.

“They want to put divers in the water and have a good look at her hull in the daylight,” she says.

“They want to observe the vessel Aratere as she goes through this full tide just to see what level of buoyancy she has got.”

The divers would also be investigating the seabed below the vessel.

“They want to understand exactly where the hull is touching the seabed and get an understanding of the underlying ground that she’s sitting on,” says Nadine.

The next high tide would be this evening but Nadine says authorities would likely want to attempt the operation to refloat the vessel during daylight hours, meaning the ferry might not be freed until at least tomorrow.

The ferry departed Picton at 9.45pm Friday before suffering a steering failure and running aground just after 10pm.

The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground just out of Picton after a steering failure on Friday evening. Photo / Renee Horncastle.

HorncastleShip tracking images showed the vessel near Titoko Bay in Marlborough.

Last night, emergency services rushed to the stricken vessel with passengers told to wear lifejackets.

Interislander General Manager Duncan Roy initially told Newstalk ZB this morning they would attempt to refloat the ship about 9am.

“That’s the best opportunity with the most amount of water around the ship.

“We’ve done a preliminary investigation and we’ve spoken to experts in the field, including our naval architects and that there’s a plan afoot for nine 0’Clock this morning.

“I think the weather is pretty good for the window.”

Duncan was on his way to Picton from Auckland alongside KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy. He’d spoken to crew members.

“They’ve been nothing, but focused on the safety and comfort of their passengers.

“I’ve been really impressed with how they’ve performed working through the night.”

Passengers aboard the Interislander ferry, Aratere, which has run aground. Photo: Supplied.

Duncan says they would look at the “formal processes” once the ship was back in Picton.

“We’re taking it very seriously.

“And number one focus is on the safety and comfort of our passengers and crew and then it’s the recovery of the ship and then we’ll look at the next steps after that.”

No injuries

Duncan says last night there had been no injuries and that “the vessel is watertight”.

“The Picton Harbour Master is on board and we are working with him to move the vessel back to Picton.”

He says he is confident harbour tugs will be able to assist the ferry into port.

It is too early to understand how freight deliveries across the Cook Strait would be impacted, he says.

The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground near Picton just after 10pm last night. Photo: Renee Horncastle.

Coastguard Marlborough volunteers onboard Bluebridge Rescue were also last night on the scene at Pine Bay along with several tug boats.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, last night: “We have been advised that there is no indication of injuries, danger to life or danger of oil pollution to the marine environment. The vessel is watertight. Both KiwiRail and Maritime NZ are actively dealing with the situation.KiwiRail will provide further updates publicly.”

We have been advised that there is no indication of injuries, danger to life or danger of oil pollution to the marine environment. The vessel is watertight.

Both KiwiRail and Maritime NZ are actively dealing with the situation.

KiwiRail will provide further updates publicly.

— Simeon Brown (@SimeonBrownMP) June 21, 2024

A South Island Fire and Emergency duty manager says they had no direct involvement in the response to the incident at this stage.

A man whose father was part of the group of truck drivers on board told the Herald last night all on board were safe.

“[My father] just said they’re just all on standby and just sitting there ready to go if they need to. He just said everyone’s been told to get up and just be up in one area and wait. That’s all I know at the moment.

“It’s run aground so you’d have to be ready to leave if you needed to, but they don’t know anything further at the moment. It’d be f***ing pitch black out there.”

Aratere has run aground near Picton. Am advised no injuries and Harbour Master on board doing checks.

— Rachel Boyack MP (@rachelboyack) June 21, 2024

The Marlborough Harbourmaster’s office says harbourmaster Jake Oliver was involved in the response to the stranded ferry as of 11pm, and that police and fire teams were also at the scene.

”Police are the lead and we’ve offered assistance but nothing has been requested of us at this stage. They’re [police] are dealing with it,” the duty manager says.

‘Highly unimpressed’ over Interislander fleet

In February 2023 an electrical fault caused the Aratere to briefly break down in Cook Strait and drift while en route to Picton.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said this week the Government has been “highly unimpressed” with KiwiRail’s maintenance of its Interislander ferry fleet.

The future of the ferries was the first question Brown faced at a Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee meeting on Thursday.

Brown says the Government is committed to a resilient Cook Strait service but ministers also want to see KiwiRail maintain its existing ships to the appropriate standards.

MarineTraffic is showing the Interislander ferry, Aratere, has stopped.

“Which has been a significant issue that we’ve been highly unimpressed with coming into Government”, he says.

On Wednesday, the Herald reported annual maintenance costs to keep the ferries running could almost double to $65 million by next year, and keeping the ferries afloat will be an “ongoing battle”.

In December last year, the Government declined KiwiRail’s request for an extra $1.47 billion for the Inter-island Resilience Connection (iReX) after the project’s total cost escalated to almost $3b.

A $551 million fixed-price contract to build the new ferries was signed with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in 2021.

Before Christmas, KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy suggested the deal could be rescued and the ships could still be built and then sold instead.

NZHerald