Interislander ferry Aratere runs aground near Picton, passengers in lifejackets

• The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground just after 10pm tonight
• Police, the harbourmaster, the Coastguard and tug boats are responding and passengers have been given lifejackets
• Finance Minister Nicola Willis refused to give KiwiRail more money for mega ferries soon after the National-led coalition came to power
• The Government said this week it has been ‘highly unimpressed’ with KiwiRail’s maintenance of its Interislander ferry fleet

The Interislander ferry Aratere ran aground just out of Picton after a steering failure.

Ship tracking images showed the vessel near Titoko Bay in Marlborough after leaving port in Picton.

Emergency services responded and passengers were told to wear lifejackets.

Forty-seven people are onboard - eight commercial drivers and 39 crew.

Interislander General Manager Duncan Roy said the ferry ran aground shortly after leaving Picton at 9.45pm on Friday, following a steering failure.

“It was a freight-only sailing... There are no injuries and the vessel is watertight. The Picton Harbour Master is on board and we are working with him to move the vessel back to Picton.”

Coastguard Marlborough volunteers onboard Bluebridge Rescue were also on the scene at Pine Bay along with several tug boats.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “We have been advised that there is no indication of injuries, danger to life or danger of oil pollution to the marine environment. The vessel is watertight. Both KiwiRail and Maritime NZ are actively dealing with the situation.KiwiRail will provide further updates publicly.”

Passengers aboard the Interislander ferry, Aratere, which is believed to have run aground. Photo / Supplied

A man whose father was part of the group of truck drivers on board told the Herald the all on board were okay.

“[My father] just said they’re just all on standby and just sitting there ready to go if they need to. He just said everyone’s been told to get up and just be up in one area and wait. That’s all I know at the moment,” he said.

“It’s run aground so you’d have to be ready to leave if you needed to, but they don’t know anything further at the moment. It’d be f***ing pitch black out there.”

The Marlborough Harbourmaster’s office said harbourmaster Jake Oliver was involved in the response to the stranded ferry as of 11pm, and that police and Fire and Emergency were also at the scene.

A South Island Fire and Emergency duty manager said they had no direct involvement in the response to the incident at this stage.

”Police are the lead and we’ve offered assistance but nothing has been requested of us at this stage. They’re [police] are dealing with it,” the duty manager said.

According to MetService, low tide is expected at 2.20am.

Hutt City councillor Brady Dyer reposted photos.

“Woah! The Interislander ferry Aratere has run aground in Picton Harbour shortly after leaving Picton this evening at 10pm!” he wrote.

“Hope everyone is ok!”

In February 2023 an electrical fault caused the Aratere to briefly break down in Cook Strait and drift while en route to Picton.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said this week the Government has been “highly unimpressed” with KiwiRail’s maintenance of its Interislander ferry fleet.

The future of the ferries was the first question Brown faced at a Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee meeting on Thursday.

Brown said the Government was committed to a resilient Cook Strait service but ministers also wanted to see KiwiRail maintain its existing ships to the appropriate standards.

MarineTraffic is showing the Interislander ferry, Aratere, has stopped.

“Which has been a significant issue that we’ve been highly unimpressed with coming into Government”, he said.

On Wednesday, the Herald reported annual maintenance costs to keep the ferries running could almost double to $65 million by next year, and keeping the ferries afloat will be an “ongoing battle”.

In December last year, the Government declined KiwiRail’s request for an extra $1.47 billion for the Inter-island Resilience Connection (iReX) after the project’s total cost escalated to almost $3b.

A $551 million fixed-price contract to build the new ferries was signed with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in 2021.

Before Christmas, KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy suggested the deal could be rescued and the ships could still be built and then sold instead.