Interislander’s Aratere ferry: Luxon distances himself from leaked documents, Peters doubles down

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has distanced himself from leaked Interislander reports while his deputy calls for the “simple” answers to be made public officially.

A leaked document from Interislander says its ferry Aratere ran aground after the crew pressed a wrong button, engaged the autopilot and sent the ship off course.

An Interislander safety bulletin that the Herald has seen reported the crew mistakenly pressed the “execute” button on the autopilot and did not take back control before it was too late.

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has been outspoken about the leaks and he doubled down on his claims when speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Andrew Dickens this morning.

Peters questioned the process of the investigation, claiming the answer is “simple” and the public deserves to know.

“It’s so darn obvious, the question is, what on earth was it doing on autopilot in the first place.

“It’s not complex, it’s a simple 1-2-3, and we are not getting any answers.”

Peters compared the Transpower incident in Northland to the ferry, saying both companies denied the “obvious” before speaking out.

“Why do we have to go through this process when the taxpayer’s money is concerned?”

Peters was also unconcerned about the comments made by Maritime lawyer Troy Stade.

“The Maritime lawyer can say what he likes, he’s being paid to say that… get to the facts before you open your mouth.”

Speaking from Washington DC, Luxon said he had yet to be briefed on the new reports.

“Until I see the final reports, I’ll believe those.”

Luxon said he appreciated there were a lot of “stories and rumours” and did not acknowledge his deputy Winton Peters might be the one providing the hot takes.

“Our Government will be responding to the formal reports which will be issued by Maritime New Zealand.”

The Aratere ferry suffered a reported steering failure before running aground.

NZ First, a coalition Government party, posed an “extraordinary” question on X earlier this week about what might have caused the grounding.

“Is it true that the Aratere ran aground when someone put the autopilot on, went for a coffee, and then couldn’t turn the autopilot off in time when that someone came back...?”, the party posted.

Maritime lawyer Troy Stade, engaged by the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild union, told Newstalk ZB Drive host Heather du Plessis-Allan that the post by NZ First and Peters’ comments were “quite frankly unhelpful.

“It astounds me that the Acting Prime Minister would raise an unsubstantiated rumour and conjecture in the middle of an active investigation.

“No crew went out. Nescafé-gate, if you want to call it, is little more than unsubstantiated rumour.”

Thermal drone imagery captured by Skyworks shows the moment Port Marlborough’s tugs Maungatea and Monowai free the grounded Aratere.

Peters, who is currently the Acting Prime Minister while Christopher Luxon is in the United States, did appear on The Country radio show yesterday and was asked by host Jamie Mackay where the rumour had started.

Peters said he saw NZ First’s social media post, which he said was not his post, and then read KiwiRail’s response to it in the Herald’s story.

“I thought ‘Crikey, that’s not a denial. That’s somebody who’s talking about an inquiry.’ Why would you need an inquiry four weeks later into something as simple as that? This is not complicated.”

The Aratere left Picton at 9.45pm on June 21 before suffering a reported steering failure and running aground shortly after. It is berthed at Waimahara Wharf in Picton and was put under a detention order.

Earlier yesterday, Maritime NZ lifted its detention notice on the Aratere, allowing it to return to service.

The internal document, which was sent to masters and deck officers on July 5, showed the vessel’s autopilot was engaged as it passed Mabel Island, off Picton.