No timeline for Strait Feronia mechanical fix, passengers ‘stranded’

• Passengers on Bluebridge’s Strait Feronia ferry are stranded in Picton due to mechanical problems.
• Wellington Harbourmaster Grant Nalder confirmed the ferry did not sail on Thursday or Friday morning.
• Equestrians heading to Horse of the Year and others are affected, with communication issues causing frustration.

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

Passengers booked on Bluebridge’s Strait Feronia ferry say they are “stranded” in Picton as the ship has not been sailing due to mechanical problems.

Wellington Harbourmaster Grant Nalder confirmed the Strait Feronia did not sail as scheduled yesterday or this morning.

The ship was in Wellington with mechanical problems that would not have been “critical” but still needed fixing, he said.

“It wouldn’t have been an issue at sea, but obviously you get it right before you go out, and that’s what they’re working on.

“Once the work’s done, it’s got to be checked off by a surveyor and then they’ll be under way again.”

The Strait Feronia did not sail as scheduled yesterday or this morning. File photo / Joseph Kelly

Nalder did not know how long that would take.

Equestrians and their horses heading north for Horse of the Year, which starts in Hawke’s Bay on Monday, were among those stuck in the South Island.

Shaun Ashton’s wife, 14-year-old daughter and her horse had travelled up from Christchurch and were due to be on the 7.30am sailing from Picton this morning.

He said it was “piss poor” that he was informed of its cancellation three minutes after the Bluebridge call centre closed on Thursday night.

“There’s a lot of people sitting at the equestrian park in Blenheim, scrambling, trying to figure out what they’re going to do.

“You can’t just park up somewhere and just wait, because you’ve got a horse sitting in a float.”

Thanks to the “amazing” work of a Bluebridge staff member this morning, the pair had been rebooked for this afternoon.

But Ashton said he would not cancel an alternative Interislander booking he had made for tomorrow until they were on board and setting sail.

He said the communication on Thursday night was not good enough, and his wife and daughter were distraught because they had no idea whether they would make the competition.

“Sending that message out at three minutes past eight last night - well, that’s when we received them - and not having the call centre open, to me that’s piss poor.

“If they knew the boat was still in Wellington yesterday, why did they not send out the alert or ring people and say, hey look ... this boat’s not going to be going, can we reshuffle you.”

The email Bluebridge sent to Ashton, seen by RNZ, said the vessel had an engineering issue.

“We’re really sorry that we’ve had to cancel this sailing, and we understand this will be disruptive to your travel plans, so we’re letting you know as early as possible,” it said.

Andrew Hill was booked on the Strait Feronia sailing from Wellington this afternoon. He had his fingers crossed it would go ahead because he was travelling to a friend’s wedding in Nelson.

He called Bluebridge on Thursday to ask whether it would be sailing and said the company seemed to be overwhelmed by that day’s cancellations.

“Staff were really approachable and reasonable,” he said. “They told me that it was an engine issue and that a component was being replaced and that they were going to know after 7.30pm if it had worked in the harbour, but then they needed to sea-trial it.”

This morning, he was still unsure whether his trip would go ahead.

Other affected passengers wrote on social media that they were “stranded” in Picton and could not rebook.

- RNZ