An unexpected night on the Aratere, and when it went ‘boom’

Sunday, 23 June 2024

The Interislander ferry Aratere was successfully refloated shortly after 9pm on Saturday night.

Truck driver Heath Harper has spoken to Stuff about the moment the Aratere ferry grounded.

47 people stayed on the ferry overnight made up of 8 truck drivers and 39 ship’s crew.

In the first hours of the incident, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said the ferry had suffered a “steering failure”.

Truck driver Heath Harper had just sat down for dinner aboard the Aratere Interislander ferry heading from Picton to Wellington when the ship started to “jolt a bit”.

Interislander ferry Aratere runs aground in Pine Bay, near Picton.

“I thought ‘that feels a bit like the Canterbury earthquake’ and it kept going and going and then it just went boom, came to a stop, and we thought ‘well there’s something wrong there’. And that’s when we went outside and realised that we’d hit land.”

Ferry passengers are back on land after the Interislander ferry Aratere grounded near Picton.

Harper was one of eight truck drivers who left Picton at 9.45pm on Friday. Shortly after their departure the ship grounded after what Interislander said was a “steering failure”, leaving 47 people to spend the night onboard.

Harper, speaking to Stuff on Saturday after returning to Picton was full of praise for those onboard.

“The crew were awesome in giving information and everything and how things were going and what was the next plan and everything.'

The truck driver said that when he saw what had happened he immediately wondered whether there was damage to the boat and if they’d be able to get it off the land.

“No-one was concerned that it was going to sink or anything like that… Obviously the crew are all running around… they need to know what's going on as well so they can relay the information to us.'

A shot up close on the Aratere, grounded outside Picton on 21 June, 2024.

He said there was no panic from anyone.

“There may have been a chance that we were going to go on lifeboats, so we were all putting life jackets on and all confined to one area on the boat.

Passengers are back on land after Interislander ferry Aratere grounded near Picton.

“We were given snacks, water, toilets to use, all that kind of stuff and they just kept us informed the whole time, and so did the captain.”

The captain would speak to those onboard over the speaker with updates on what was happening. One of the crew would then relay everything for those who could not hear.

It was not until about 1am that he was able to go to bed after the call had been made they weren’t going anywhere.

'We took our life jackets off, went back to the driver's lounge and the cabins, and had a sleep until this morning.”

The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground near Picton. It is photographed here on 22 June, 2024.

Remarkably, he said he was able to have a good sleep and there was “no stress from the drivers”.

“We were all just laid back having a laugh and what not. They fed us, gave us breakfast. It was all pretty calm to be honest.'

The morning was mainly spent “sitting around” waiting for the next announcement on the plans, he said.

“A lot of us didn't want to get off the boat because we didn't know what was going to happen once we got put onto shore, but then they said they were going to put us in accommodation and everything else.

The Interislander ferry Aratere spent the night aground near Picton on 21 June, 2024.

“They come up and said right we're all going on lifeboats and heading ashore.'

Harper said Interislander “couldn’t have done any better”.

“The crew were just, everyone on board was just phenomenal. always checking to see if you're OK, if you needed anything, can we help with anything. It was unbelievable, the service was supreme.'

Harper was unsure when he’d be heading back to Palmerston North.

“All we know is we've been given accommodation tonight, going out for dinner and waiting until tomorrow,” he said.

'It is what it is. They've had issues with these boats for a couple of years now, if you stress about it you're just going to get wound up. It's not going to do you any good. You've got to just roll with the punches basically.'

In the first hours of the incident, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy made a statement saying the ferry had suffered a “steering failure”.

The grounded ferry was waiting for a new part after a wet dock maintenance last month, and had recently undertaken an upgrade to its steering system, an Interislander customer email said.

Various investigations into the grounding would be conducted, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said on Saturday. TAIC had earlier said it would investigate.

KiwiRail confirmed the Aratere was successfully refloated in a high tide tugs operation about 9pm on Saturday. It set anchor for the night at Picton.