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Anthony Phelps/STUFF
Passengers of the Interislander spent the night onboard docked in Wellington harbour. (File photo)
Passengers on the Interislander ferry Kaitaki have spent the night on board after issues with its steering.
An Interislander spokesman said the ferry departed Wellington at 8.30pm on Wednesday, headed for Picton, when it developed issues “with its steering just out of the Wellington heads”.
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The Kaitaki retained full steering control via a backup system and returned to Wellington harbour where it anchored.
A passenger on board said the Kaitaki lost steering about an hour and a half into its trip before it got back into Wellington harbour and anchored.
“Staff on board have been really good. Mostly a freight sailing. Only about 20 cars on board so everyone got a cabin for the night.”
The spokesperson said there were only a few passengers on board the ferry overnight “primarily commercial vehicle drivers”, and each person was provided a cabin.
“To ensure safety the ship’s master decided it would not berth at Kaiwharawhara without being guided by tugs, which are not available until around 7am this morning.”
By 7am, the ferry was back in port.
Interislander engineers are working to fix the issue and as a result there will be delays to some sailings on Thursday.
“We are holding this morning’s Aratere sailing so it can take some of the passengers.”
Interislander has apologised to passengers and said they are working to resolve the issue as possible.
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