MO-1999-202

On Wednesday, 24 February 1999 at about 0640, the passenger and freight ferry "Aratere", with 221 passengers and 33 crew on board, was proceeding past Point Halswell in Wellington Harbour at the beginning of a scheduled service to Picton, when the vessel suffered a series of power failures that eventually left it adrift without power. The emergency generator that was designed to supply power to essential services also failed.

"Aratere" was taken under tow at 0815 and with a harbour pilot on board was towed back to the ferry terminal. After another ferry cleared the terminal "Aratere" was berthed, its passengers disembarked and cargo discharged. The crew were able to restore electrical power shortly before berthing at about 1000.

Safety issues identified included:
• the incomplete failure mode effect analysis of on-board systems at design and installation stage
• the standard of quality control of essential component installation before the vessel entered service
• the standard of crew familiarisation with the vessel before it entered service.

A number of safety actions were taken by the operator to address the safety issues. A safety recommendation was made to the operator.