How a NZ First tweet led to reason the Interislander grounded

Thursday, 11 July 2024

ANALYSIS: “Is it true that the Aratere ran aground when someone put the autopilot on, went for a coffee, and then couldn’t turn the autopilot off in time when that someone came back…? If so, why haven’t the public been told that?”

New Zealand First’s post to X, formerly known as Twitter, late on Tuesday, was met with immediate derision. “A party in government carrying on with gossip rather than waiting for facts!!! How irresponsible,” one X user responded. “Why on earth are you posting about this on social media???” asked another.

But the post worked as intended, and within 24 hours, while not quite on the money, the unfortunate series of events that led to the Interislander vessel grounding late on the evening of June 21 as it left the bucolic waters of Picton — triggering multiple investigations, a minister flying in, and national soul searching about the ailing state of the ferries — was revealed.

It appeared that, by apparently throwing something at the wall and seeing if it would stick, NZ First was half vindicated.

After the post, there was a resurgence of interest in the reason for the grounding, which was under multiple investigations and which KiwiRail had roundly described as being down to a “steering issue”. The bureaucratic nature of these investigations typically means a comprehensive report is released at the end and any discussion about the root cause pre any “learnings” is dismissed as scuttlebutt and unhelpful speculation.

Nonetheless, after NZ First’s post, the scuttlebutt and unhelpful speculation roared into life. “Wrong … auto pilot doesn’t make radical right hand turns,” one X user replied. “Would not surprise me at all. I have met many members of the maritime union,” said another.

Asked about the claims on RNZ the following morning, Opposition leader Chris Hipkins rebuked NZ First’s leader Winston Peters (but it should be noted the post came from the party), and said it was incumbent upon him to back up the allegations.

Many noted that, given Peters and NZ First were in government, it was an extraordinary claim to make, and surely the deputy prime minister could simply make some calls and get to the bottom of it himself. Peters is not responsible for any state owned enterprises.

It’s understood the party heard the claim from outside government, through its own contacts.

And that’s not surprising, as on July 5 Interislander had floated a safety bulletin to bridge staff, alerting them to “auto pilot hazards”. The report essentially outlined that the Aratere beached after a button had accidentally been switched, redirecting its course. Crew had struggled to deactivate the autopilot — deliberately engaged on leaving Picton — in time to take back control, the report said.

It’s understood the safety notice caused some consternation in the maritime community, and it started to be passed around. Far from confidential, the briefing said, “Please discuss this bulletin with your department. Hand over this safety bulletin for discussion among the relieving bridge team and deck crew.”

The nature of the report, essentially putting the grounding down to human error, appeared condescending to experienced mariners, one person said. It started to be talked about. Those who didn’t have the report heard about the report, and eventually, it appears, the rumour mill reached NZ First, who, having heard a version of the story, pushed publish on a tweet and sat back and watched.

Retired captains, mariners and maritime community members, part of a niche community called Ship Spotters, poured cold water on the claim online.

“Typical NZ First bullshit,” wrote one Facebooker. “What do they think happens, the ship gets underway, the captain goes right, that’s that then, and heads off to the restaurant to grab a cuppa, maybe a snack too while leaving the bridge completely unmanned?” said another.

But, importantly and probably as NZ First expected, machinations whirred into life in newsrooms.

Asked about the allegation by The Post mid morning on Wednesday, Marlborough harbourmaster Jake Oliver said autopilot being on as the Interislander left Picton was plausible. The rules allowed autopilot so long as someone was available to take it over, he said.

Interislander chief executive Duncan Roy wouldn’t comment on the post, except to say the rules meant a certain number of people had to be on the ship’s bridge at all times, and there was no exception on the night of the crash. This appeared to reference NZ First’s coffee reference.

The claim about the coffee really irked and became a central focus for people trying to debunk the claim. By Wednesday afternoon Troy Stade, a union lawyer representing the ferry’s bridge crew, categorically ruled out the involvement of coffee and said NZ First’s post was “completely inappropriate”.

Maritime New Zealand, investigating the grounding, released a seemingly unrelated press release late that afternoon announcing that after an inspection of the Aratere, it was being released from detention.

Almost as an afterthought, the last line of the statement read: “…While the cause of the grounding is yet to be formally determined Maritime NZ’s preliminary enquiries have found that the incident was not due to a crew member leaving the bridge to make a coffee.”

Ordinarily, this might have been enough to satisfy media, given it was the most scurrilous part of the allegation. But by then the safety briefing had fallen into media hands. A copy of the safety report made its way to The Post’s Tom Hunt, and its details were published on The Post and ThreeNews at 6pm on Wednesday. Shortly afterwards, RNZ and NZ Herald published their own stories, having also apparently been given the report.

By Thursday morning, Winston Peters, acting PM while Christopher Luxon is in the US, was demanding an explanation from KiwiRail.

Today New Zealand First has posted links to most media coverage of the report, and its own “how it started/how it’s going” meme, featuring its original tweet, and media headlines. “We will always keep the bureaucrats accountable,” the party’s latest post says. Previously it tagged in Chris Hipkins into its series of “vindicated” posts.

Even Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury, who unleashed strident criticism of Peters on his blog — “Allowing the Acting Prime Minister to insert themselves into a safety inquiry … this is how Banana Republics behave …-” — also found room to ask the same question many others had, as they learned of the briefing’s contents.

“While we are asking that, why the f… was the training so pathetic on the Aratere that people weren’t aware of how to switch off the autopilot? What the f… is going on here???

“That this has happened at all is extraordinary.”

And on Ship Spotters, the news sunk in: “So Winston was right, crew turned on autopilot, couldn't work out how to turn it off, crashed ship. Que [sic] apologies from rabid lefty unionists.”