The Interislander Ferry Aratere has successfully been refloated almost 24 hours after it ran aground in Picton Harbour, stranding nearly 50 people on the vessel overnight.

Executive General Manager Duncan Roy says at just past 9pm on Saturday, the Interislander ferry 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.

“I am delighted with the successful operation, and we’re extremely grateful for the help and support of MNZ, PMNZ, the Harbour Master, our people, experts and customers, and authorities on the ground in Picton,” he says.

“The Aratere will now move to a safe anchorage in Picton Harbour overnight to re-ballast and stabilise the vessel before returning to Picton Wharf.”

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

KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy says 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 says.

“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."

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

Kirstie says 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.

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.

Jake says 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 says it was great there had been no loss of life and everyone onboard the ship was safe.

He says there are 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 says 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 Minister says independent investigations are 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 says 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. Photo: Supplied.

Brown says 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 says 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.”

Peter Reidy says 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,” says Peter at Picton Marina.

Peter and Duncan Roy spoke to media at Picton Marina on Saturday 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, says Peter.

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

Peter says 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 says Cook Strait forms 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.