New Zealand – Why the “Aratere” Ferry Ran Aground:
Was the Rt Hon Winston Peters and NZ First Party, correct once again?
Interesting Comments:
Interislander's single-button autopilot a “significant hazard” – harbourmaster.
The reasons why the autopilot was not immediately able to be cancelled is part of the ongoing investigation.
The crew struggled to return the autopilot to manual steering mode, and it took around about a minute before the crew was able to apply reverse thrust and have control of the steering.
According to the safety report, they would have much preferred that the ferry was not running on autopilot so soon out of the Picton berth.
The Interislander ferry Aratere is expected to sail from Picton to Wellington on Thursday for the first time since its grounding 21 June - under strict conditions.
The Rt Hon Sir Winston Peters Comments:
"But here's the point - at the moment we heard this story, it was clear as daylight that something dramatically had gone wrong, that shouldn't have gone wrong, and we find out it was on autopilot."
"KiwiRail needs to explain the reason for the Aratere running aground, right here, right now".
"It was obvious something had gone dramatically wrong on the ferry."
"We find out it was on autopilot. That was something that's not requiring an inquiry that goes on for weeks and months and months. It requires an answer right here right now, and we're not getting it."
"It's happening over and over again, and we need a better response from a company, or an outfit, that's owned by the NZ taxpayer, and it's a critical part of our infrastructure."
Has there been a cover-up at KiwiRail over the grounding of the Aratere last month?
Thank you Winston Peters and NZ First,
WhangareiTim
