The Cook Strait ferry Aratere is expected to be back up and running this weekend after being damaged yesterday afternoon, KiwiRail says.
The incident — now under investigation — involved the Aratere making contact with a link span while the boat was berthing in Wellington.
At the time, 146 people were aboard but there were no injuries.
In a statement to 1News, KiwiRail executive general manager Duncan Roy said repairs to the stern were “progressing well” and the Aratere was expected to return to service over the coming weekend.
“The link span that was damaged was successfully repaired overnight… We need to insert new plating, then have the repair approved,” Roy said.
The ferry provider was transferring affected passengers to alternative sailings.
Those passengers would be contacted directly and additional sailings would be put on to manage capacity if required, Roy added.
The latest incident capped months of trouble for the Aratere. It ran aground on June 21 just north of Picton while on a freight-only sailing.
The ferry had been in Picton under the notice since it ran aground shortly after leaving the port on the evening of June 21 following what was reported to have been a steering failure.
