Ferry just seconds from disaster

The Aratere. File picture / Mark Mitchell

The 260 passengers and 32 crew aboard the Aratere were five seconds from smashing into rocks in Marlborough's Tory Channel last year, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission says in a report released today.

The report follows on from the bureaucratic equivalent of a sound thrashing given to the ship's master and crew last month by the Maritime Safety Authority.

The commission said that the Aratere might have been just five seconds away from the point of no return on September 29 last year when the master of the ship swung it hard to port to avoid the rocks.

At the time, the Aratere was about 100m off track as the master and mate relied on an automatic system to keep the ship on course.

The commission also released a report yesterday on a loss of power on the Aratere on October 19 last year. It found the ship lost power because of air in its water cooling system.

Of the near-grounding in Tory Channel, the report found that when the master swung the Aratere to port, it was more luck than good management that enabled it to miss the rock.

"Had the master delayed assuming manual control, by possibly as little as five seconds, the ship would not have been able to make the turn to port and would probably have grounded at speed," the report said.

"The consequences of such a grounding would have been severe."

At the time, 260 passengers and 32 crew were on board.

"When the master and mate found just how far the ship was off course, both reached for the steering controls, with the master getting there first. The master's action in turning the ship to port was probably a 'gut reaction' or an intuitive skill-based decision."

At that point the Aratere was about 200m past the point its route map noted as the last possible point to make the turn.

"There may therefore have been an element of luck in the successful turn."

The report also criticised the presence of the children of a crew member on the bridge.

The commission said they might have distracted the master or mate. Its safety recommendations include new training procedures to ensure such a near-grounding does not happen again.

In a separate report on the Aratere's loss of power in October, shortly after leaving Picton, the commission blamed air in the water cooling system causing the engines to shut down because of high temperatures.

It found the procedures for replacing and testing cylinder heads were not "robust enough".

Toll Shipping, which operates the inter-island ferry service, says it has instigated new procedures in this area.

- NZPA