NZ First claims Aratere ran aground with 'autopilot' left on

Tuesday, 9 July 2024

NZ First has tweeted a claim that the Aratere ferry accident was caused by the autopilot being turned on.

The claim suggests the accident took place when a crew member went to get coffee.

Investigations into the accident that took place on June 21 are ongoing.

The Interislander has responded to claims that the Aratere ran aground last month after it was put on autopilot.

The claim was made in a tweet by NZ First on Tuesday, alleging the reason the Aratere ran aground was due to a crew member turning on the autopilot while they went to get a coffee.

The tweet continued saying the person then could not turn the autopilot back off before the boat came to a stop.

In response to the claim, Interislander Executive General Manager Duncan Roy told Stuff the ship’s bridge is attended to at all times.

“There is a regulated number of qualified people who need to be in attendance on the ship’s bridge at all times,” Roy said.

He added, “we meet this without exception - including on the night of the grounding.”

The Interislander would not be making further comment while investigations into the grounding are ongoing.

In a separate statement, KiwiRail said investigations into the Aratere grounding are underway by Maritime NZ, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and KiwiRail.

They said, “it is not appropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident until those investigations are concluded.”

Stuff has reached out to NZ First for comment.

The Aratere ran aground on the evening of June 21 just off Picton while on route to Wellington.

The Interislander said the ship had a steering failure that caused it to stop.

There were 47 people on board when it grounded who had to stay the night before being escorted off the ship the following morning.

The Aratere was successfully re-floated by about 9pm on Saturday.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing.