Analysis: The tough questions KiwiRail faces after Interislander Aratere autopilot bungle

The Interislander Cook Strait ferry the Aratere arriving back in Wellington Harbour after it ran around in Picton. Photo / Mark Mitchell

ANALYSIS

After being blasted for poor maintenance of its Interislander ferries, KiwiRail has upped its game only to now face questions about whether staff knew how to use recently upgraded equipment.

A leaked safety bulletin document has revealed that the Aratere ferry was on autopilot when the “execute button” was accidentally pressed, causing the ship to veer off course before running aground in Picton.

The crew noticed something was wrong, and tried to regain control, but couldn’t. About a minute passed before they could change the direction of the propulsion system and it was too late to prevent the ship from grounding.

The safety bulletin gives more context to the previously reported “steering failure” the Aratere suffered.

The ship’s steering system had recently been upgraded when it was taken out of service for maintenance.

In a general staff newsletter from May 18, the upgrade was described as a “massive project under way - approximately 7km of cabling will have been run from the bridge to the steering down aft and control room”.

The question now is whether the crew knew how to disengage the autopilot under this new system.

It appears this is something Maritime NZ will be looking at more broadly in an upcoming audit of the fleet, which is separate from its ongoing investigation into the grounding.

In a statement yesterday, Maritime NZ said its inspectors will look at Interislander’s processes, procedures, training, and risk management - and how it brings on new equipment and familiarises its personnel.

The safety bulletin said bridge teams will have refresher training on the steering system.

This comes after KiwiRail was criticised by ministers in the current government and the previous one.

Former Transport Minister Michael Wood said in March 2023 that the unreliability of the ferries was creating a “degree of chaos” for passengers stuck on either side of Cook Strait after a mayday call, mechanical problems, and cancellations.

He told KiwiRail he expected a more planned approach to managing the ferries such as having more time out of service for maintenance that could be signalled well in advance, rather than having unplanned disruptions.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the Government has been “highly unimpressed” with KiwiRail’s maintenance of its ferries.

“They have in recent months been improving their maintenance protocols significantly from the poor maintenance protocols that they had in the last few years because they understand, and have had it impressed upon them, the importance of having well-maintained Cook Strait ferries which has not been the case in the last few years,” Brown told a select committee last month.

In an exclusive interview with the Herald, KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the organisation had “really stepped up” its approach to safety and maintenance under his watch.

Apart from the Aratere grounding and the Kaitaki mayday call, Interislander’s recent performance has been strong, he said.

Interislander had 99% reliability and 92% safe, on-time performance to schedule, from December to April.

KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the organisation had “really stepped up” its approach to safety and maintenance under his watch. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Unfortunately for KiwiRail, even when it upped its game on maintenance, a major incident still unfolded - the Aratere grounding.

That’s not to say the fleet of three ferries is beyond help. New advice suggests it could operate until 2029 with good maintenance.

But if the current ships are required to operate for several years before their replacements arrive, then KiwiRail will need to be satisfied that crews are adequately trained to confidently use any other upgrades.

The safety bulletin document was leaked after NZ First, part of the coalition Government, posed an “extraordinary” question on X about what might have caused the grounding.

“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...?” the party posted.

However, Maritime NZ said its preliminary inquiries found the incident was not due to a crew member leaving the bridge to make a coffee.

In response to NZ First’s post, Maritime Union of New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay said the speculation and conjecture were “terrible”.

“Now the spotlight’s on all these people who probably don’t deserve to have the spotlight.”

To be clear, the problem was not that the autopilot was on. Autopilot is used at the ship master’s discretion and it was allowed to be activated before Aratere grounded.

The problem was that the “execute button” was accidentally pushed and the crew could not regain control.

The leaked safety bulletin document sets the record straight to some extent but we will have to wait for the outcome of the Maritime NZ and Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigations for the full story of what happened the night the Aratere ran aground.

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.