Source: Radio New Zealand
Screenshot / MarineTraffic
Passengers have been stuck on the Interislander ferry, Kaiarahi, for almost six hours.
The ship experienced steering problems during its voyage across the Cook Strait to Picton on Friday.
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder said the ferry left Wellington at about 3:30pm, but turned back from entering Tory Channel.
“As they were approaching Tory Channel and did their regular checks they found something was behaving oddly with the steering.
“They didn’t go through Tory Channel, just went out into Cook Strait to test what it was. After doing that, they decided they were going to return to Wellington.
‘It’s a technical problem with the steering, but they still have full control of the wheel. They’re just taking a prudent approach.”
He said the ship has been slowly heading back to Wellington Harbour since about 8pm.
They were expected to reach the harbour by 10pm where passengers could finally get off the ferry.
Nalder said once they got back to the wharf, they would work on resolving the problem.
“There will be checks done before it returns to service.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand