Interisland ferry detained

By the end of last year, Aratere had been investigated 43 times since arriving in Wellington six years ago. File picture / Mark Mitchell

The Maritime Safety Authority says it is having a "crisis of confidence" with problem-plagued interisland ferry Aratere, which was today being detained in Picton after having steering trouble.

The passenger ferry sailed to Picton after experiencing a series of difficulties with its steering system off Point Halswell inside Wellington Harbour just before 9pm yesterday.

The ferry's Australian owners Toll Shipping ignored the MSA's advice to voluntarily withdraw the vessel from service and Aratere sailed to Picton.

MSA director Russell Kilvington said today the ferry would be detained in Picton until the authority was satisfied it was safe to sail.

"We're not saying we're going to ban it forever, but at the moment our position is if anything else goes wrong with the ship we've simply got to do something," he said.

"We're having a bit of a crisis of confidence over the vessel..." he told National Radio today.

By the end of last year, Aratere had been investigated 43 times since arriving in Wellington six years ago, more than any other Cook Strait passenger or freight ferry.

Mr Kilvington said last night Toll Shipping faced possible legal action over the latest fault, for "failing to report the incident and reckless actions".

The Melbourne-based company could not be reached for comment today.

A call from a passenger on the ship to a radio station alerted the MSA to the incident shortly before the ferry's scheduled return sailing to Picton at 10.20pm.

Mr Kilvington said an electrical fault on the rudder was believed to be the latest cause of Aratere's problems.

He said a Toll spokesman told the MSA the vessel had berthed and unloaded and the fault was checked out. No problem could be found, and the ferry intended to sail.

Mr Kilvington said the MSA advised the company it should voluntarily withdraw the vessel from service. Whether the company received that advice before sailing would be a matter for the MSA's investigation.

He confirmed a detention certificate would hold the ferry at Picton until the MSA was fully satisfied about what went wrong and convinced it would not happen again.

Mr Kilvington said today he was particularly alarmed by several reports the Aratere did a full 360deg turn in the harbour.

"Rudders don't normally take on a life on their own on a ship."

However, he declined to speculate on whether the ferry was sailing "out of control".

Picton's harbourmaster told the Aratere it could not re-enter Queen Charlotte Sound by the usual Tory Channel route. A tug was placed on standby for the ferry's scheduled 2am berthing at Picton.

It was a far less convenient place for the ship to be detained than Wellington, Mr Kilvington said.

"I'm afraid in our view we did give an appropriate warning and we cannot allow the situation to carry on."

Mr Kilvington said the MSA had still to hear Toll's versions of events but the fact the incident had not been reported was further grounds for the fullest investigation.

- NZPA