Waiheke Island car ferry service cancelled after power lost to two engines

A Waiheke Sealink car ferry was temporarily stranded off Music Point in the Haurakai Gulf. Photo / Byron Ballan

A Waiheke car ferry lost power to two engines in the middle of the city's afternoon rush hour.

Ferry operator Sealink said its vessel Seacat set off from Auckland's Half Moon Bay at 4pm today en route to Kennedy Point in Waiheke Island with 70 passengers and 20 vehicles on board when it suffered an "electronic control fault".

This shut power to two of the ferry's four engines, with staff being forced to drop anchor to stop the boat drifting while the problem was checked.

"The vessel was then able to make her way back to Half Moon Bay where we transferred all of the passengers and vehicles on to our vessel Seaway for the 6pm scheduled sailing," a Sealink spokeswoman said.

Passengers and vehicles for the 5pm sailing scheduled on Seacat from Waiheke Island to Half Moon Bay were put on the company's Seabridge vessel and taken to Wynyard Wharf.

"After some repairs, we expect Seacat will return to her regular schedule tomorrow," the spokeswoman said.

One woman told the Herald her husband saw the ferry stop and then drift about 100 metres before its crew came out to its ramp and put the anchor down.

She said the ferry made its way back to Half Moon Bay after about half and hour.

The incident comes after ferry company Fullers experienced a public backlash when it reduced the number of winter sailings between Auckland and Waiheke Island earlier this year.

Fullers then suffered a mechanical fault in May that left hundreds of commuters stranded in May.