The ferry Aratere may have gone aground because the crew accidentally engaged the autopilot, according to an internal safety memo, written by the ferry operator after the casualty and leaked to New Zealand media outlets.
The 18,000 GT ferry Aratere departed the port of Picton on the evening of June 21 for its fourth and final transit of the day. At about 2145 hours, about half an hour after leaving her berth, Aratere went hard aground at a position about 1.5 nautical miles to the north of Picton in Titoko Bay. No flooding or pollution were reported, and the 39 crewmembers and a team of eight professional divers on board were unharmed. They spent the night aboard the ship, and the vessel was refloated with local tug assistance the following evening.
According to the internal bulletin, which was distributed other mariners in the operator's fleet to alert them to a potential safety risk, an early investigation shows that a string of errors related to steering control led to the grounding. Aratere was passing Mabel Island, just a mile from her point of departure, when a watchstander switched over from hand steering to autopilot and then "inadvertently pressed" the "execute" button on the starboard multipilot console. This automatic steering control system had been recently installed.
The accidental engagement of autopilot initiated a turn about one nautical mile too "early" and resulted in an unplanned deviation from course, according to the bulletin. The crew identified the error but were unable to recover in time to prevent a grounding on the shores of Titoki Bay.
Investigators are still looking into why the crew could not recover hand steering in time to avert a grounding, but it took approximately one minute for the autopilot to be disengaged, according to the leaked memo.
The reason for the "inadvertent" engagement has not been formally determined, but political party New Zealand First alleged this week that a crewmember turned the autopilot on and then "went for a cup of coffee." NZ Acting Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has called on operator KiwiRail to immediately confirm details of the casualty, without waiting for the outcome of an ongoing investigation. "You can say I'm asking KiwiRail [to] front up - right here right now," he told NZ outlet Stuff. "We don't need a month-long inquiry or three or four months while they try and do PR and damage control."
KiwiRail subsidiary Interislander has vigorously denied New Zealand First's claims, saying that the bridge was properly attended at all times and that there were no attempts to minimize publicity after the casualty.
