By SCOTT MacLEOD transport reporter
Dozens of people were on board a ferry when it went out of control approaching Queen's Wharf in Auckland and smacked into another ferry, which then bumped a third.
All three ferries are operated by Fullers.
The Maritime Safety Authority is investigating the incident, which has put one
ferry out of action for at least a week.
Waterfront resident Malcolm Konik was sitting on the terrace of his penthouse apartment at 4 pm on Friday when he saw the Kea heading towards Queen's Wharf with 50 to 60 people from Devonport.
Mr Konik noticed that there was no backwash on one side of the Kea, indicating that an engine was out of action. Suddenly, the Kea veered and thumped into Fullers' Manu ferry with a loud bang.
The general manager of Fullers, Chris Bradley, said the impact caused the Manu, which was tied to the dock, to bump into the Kestrel.
No one was hurt, but the 150-seat Manu was left with a 50cm split in the beam. This would take a week to 10 days to fix.
Fullers uses the Manu for charter trips and runs to Stanley Bay, serving 70 to 100 people.
The firm spent much of the weekend hunting for a charter vessel to replace the Manu, but said that there would be no disruption to services this week.
Fullers said the crash occurred after a generator failed on the Kea. It had been fixed and the ferry had resumed service. Timetables were not affected.
Mr Bradley was unable to say how many people were on board the Kea at the time of the crash, but said it usually carried 30 to 50 passengers. There were no passengers on the Manu.
Maritime Safety Authority director Russell Kilvington said a report would be prepared over the next few weeks.
The crash was the latest in a series of incidents involving Fullers' ferries.
On January 16, Quickcat II skipper Geffrey Bryan Dazeley, aged 33, was fined $3000 for going too fast.
His ferry hit another vessel in the Waitemata Harbour on May 31 last year. Some of the 127 passengers on both vessels had thrown themselves to the deck.
On October 21, the 94-year-old Kestrel smashed into Queen's Wharf while carrying 60 passengers.
Friday's smash was a dampener for Fullers as it headed into a potentially busy weekend.
Ferries were packed on Saturday because of the food and wine festival at Devonport. But rain forced many people to stay away yesterday and Fullers sent many of its staff home.
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