New Auckland to Waiheke Fullers ferry, Torea, has been launched in Whanganui.
After a blessing this morning, the boat slipped into the Whanganui River just before high tide, which was due at 11.30am.
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It would undergo engine commissioning trials and remain off the coast of Whanganui for about two weeks before Fullers took it over.
A sister boat to Korora, the boat was constructed by Whanganui's Q-West boatbuilders, which also built Te Kotuku for Fullers in 2014.