The Cook Strait ferry Aratere is under urgent investigation after a steering fault resulted in it coming within 30 seconds of potential disaster while entering Tory Channel with 268 passengers.
Maritime Safety Authority general manager of operations John Mansell said the authority was "very concerned" as there had been the potential
for a "serious grounding" on Wednesday night.
"Half a minute later and it could have been very difficult to extract the ship from that situation. There's not much room for things to go wrong in the Tory Channel and when they do go wrong, they happen very quickly.
"Fortunately, the [ship's] master was able to alter the course manually and bring her back on track."
The channel is less than 600m wide at the entrance.
An urgent investigation into the incident was being carried out but preliminary indications suggested the ship's rudders failed to respond to the automatic navigation system.
The authority has allowed the ferry to continue sailing - but it must be manually steered through Tory Channel and in Wellington harbour. An extra crew member has been assigned to the bridge.
The Maritime Union's Wellington secretary, Mike Williams, said he believed all Cook Strait ships should be hand-steered within harbour limits, because of its history of disasters, including the sinkings of the Wahine in 1968 and the Russian cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov in 1986.
"You can't depend on electronics to steer the ship safely," he said.
The crew were concerned about the incident but said they were comfortable that they would now be sailing the ship manually.
Toll Shipping divisional general manager Paul Garaty said the company was cooperating with the investigation and would carry out its own investigations into what caused the fault.
All other Interislander ferries were run manually, he said.
"When the fault occurred, the master simply switched to the manual system to take the Aratere through to Picton."
The $106 million Spanish-built ferry has been plagued by engine and electrical problems since its maiden voyage.
Troubled history
Other problems have included:
* 1999
February: A power failure leaves the Aratere languishing in Wellington harbour.
May: An electrical failure cuts power to all four engines and brings the ship to a virtual standstill.
September: Smoke in the engine room sends 250 passengers and 40 crew scurrying to emergency stations.
November: Rough seas cause dishing of the ship's bow plates, which have to be strengthened.
* 2000
June: A liferaft falls from the Aratere while docked in Wellington.
December: It blows an engine piston causing delays for several weeks.
2001 February: It is unable to sail because of an electrical fault.
- NZPA
The Cook Strait ferry Aratere is under urgent investigation after a steering fault resulted in it coming within 30 seconds of potential disaster while entering Tory Channel with 268 passengers.
Maritime Safety Authority general manager of operations John Mansell said the authority was "very concerned" as there had been the potential
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