THE BLUEBRIDGE ro-pax Connemara lost power soon after leaving Wellington harbour last night [19 September] and drifted for around two hours in Cook Strait.
Wellington harbour master Capt Grant Nalder said the 2007–built ferry had departed at 2138 hrs on a regular sailing to Picton but suffered a blackout about 40 minutes later. At 0030 this morning AIS showed Connemara drifting south of Sinclair Head.
By 0200 the vessel was under tow by Wellington tug Tapuhi with Tiaki providing steerage. Capt Nalder told NZ media he believed it was a freight-only sailing and there was no immediate risk to the 88 people on board. Maritime NZ and the Rescue Coordination Centre were monitoring the situation.
“She’s been drifting slowly in a southeast direction, so that’s away from land, so there’s no distress, there’s no immediate safety issue – she’s quite safe,” he said.
Tugs and tow arrived back in Wellington five-and-a-half hours after the blackout and Connemara has been detained by MNZ pending satisfactory resolution of the ship’s problems. While all people on board have disembarked, freight and other vehicles have been stranded because the vessel’s ramps cannot be lowered.
StraitNZ, owner of Bluebridge, has largely escaped the attention rival Interisland Line’s aging ferries have attracted although earlier this year the 1997-built Strait Feronia also suffered a blackout.
Maritime Union New Zealand national secretary Carl Findlay told Radio NZ it was lucky the wind had been blowing in “the right direction” for Connemara.
The union had been raising health and safety concerns about the ageing ferry fleet for some time, but these had been ignored, he said.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take for the government to get it, but the anxiety levels amongst all of our members with these vessels and the issues they’re having is … going through the roof.
“There’s some real issues there that need to be dealt with and they just seem to be ignoring everything we’re asking and not coming up with any answers.”
