Passengers disembark from Bluebridge ferry after ramp fault leaves them stranded overnight

Passengers stranded on board a Bluebridge Cook Strait ferry are finally disembarking after a “mechanical issue” kept 200 passengers on board in Wellington Harbour for nearly 14 hours.

One passenger on board told the Herald it has been a “pretty stressful” ordeal, with little sleep had due to constant announcements about the issue not being fixed.

Bluebridge confirmed the Connemara ferry’s 8.30pm sailing from Wellington to Picton last night was forced to return about 40 minutes into its journey after an issue with the ship’s ramp was found.

Cranes had been brought in to lower the ramp, with StraitNZ confirming disembarking was underway just after 10.20am today.

StraitNZ spokesman Will Dady said the company is “extremely disappointed” and said passengers had been put up in cabins overnight and served “refreshments”.

“We acknowledge that it is a huge inconvenience for everyone,” Dady said.

“We apologise unreservedly to everyone affected and will work with each passenger to refund and reschedule.”

The passenger said they were given a free breakfast “but we had to pay for our coffee”.

StraitNZ disputed this, saying food and beverages were provided free of charge.

Not everyone got a cabin, the passenger said, with most people sleeping on chairs on the ship.

“We got a little bit of sleep, but everyone was woken up every couple of hours by announcements about how the problem wasn’t being fixed,” she said.

She said passengers were not allowed to go down to their cars on a below deck, “so nobody had much stuff with them”.

“It’s just been pretty stressful, particularly because there are literally no ferries available between now and the 24th of January,” she said.

A passenger said they had little sleep after being stranded on the ferry overnight due to a ramp issue. Photo / Supplied

Another passenger, scheduled to sail on the Connemara this afternoon from Picton to Wellington told the Herald they were awoken at 1:04am to a message from Bluebridge saying their 2pm sailing was cancelled due to a technical issue on board the vessel.

He looked for alternative sailings but said they were all booked out for weeks.

The passenger, who is returning home to Auckland after holidaying with his family in the South Island, said somehow his original 2pm sailing was available, so he rebooked it.

“I’m booked on that 2:00pm, even though it got cancelled, and then I was able to rebook on it, so I’m quite confused,” he said.

He tried to call Bluebridge but was on hold for half an hour before giving up.

“I’m not sitting here saying they should be calling everyone individually or anything like that, but it just seems like the communication is not very good,” he said.

“I’m just confused now as to what’s gone wrong and why I was able to then rebook on the same one.”

“I’m presuming that I’m back on that sailing and away we go,” he said, “it’s going to be interesting”.

StraitNZ said it was adding an additional sailing of the Livia ferry this evening to accommodate the impacted passengers, but noted there will be flow-on disruptions for other sailings.

The Wellington to Picton crossing ordinarily takes 3.5 hours, with Bluebridge making 50 sailings per week but the company’s sailings are currently booked out until January 25.

It is the second time the issue has occurred in recent months, with passengers stuck for hours after the Connemara’s ramp became stuck on a crossing to Picton in late November.