Passengers stuck on Interislander ferry Kaiārahi after 'steering problems'

Passengers stuck on an Interislander ferry for more than six hours have finally been allowed to disembark.

The Kaiārahi experienced steering problems during its voyage across the Cook Strait to Picton on Friday.

Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder said the ferry left Wellington at about 3:30pm, but turned back from entering Tory Channel.

"As they were approaching Tory Channel and did their regular checks, they found something was behaving oddly with the steering.

"They didn't go through Tory Channel, just went out into Cook Strait to test what it was. After doing that, they decided they were going to return to Wellington.

"It's a technical problem with the steering, but they still have full control of the wheel. They're just taking a prudent approach."

He said the ship had been slowly heading back to Wellington Harbour since about 8pm.

"There will be checks done before it returns to service."

KiwiRail confirmed the ship berthed back in Wellington at 10.05pm, allowing passengers to finally get off the ferry.

'A lot of tension and stress'

A person on board the sailing, who didn't want to be named, said passengers collected their bags at 10.40pm, more than half an hour after the ship docked.

He said the mood was "fairly calm" before passengers were told at 8pm that the ship would be returning to Wellington.

"From there, while mostly calm, there was a lot of tension and stress from being unsure what was happening. There was a lot of confusion of who to contact and what would be happening.

"There was very little communication on board and the general feeling was that it would've been preferable to have regular updates than the few we had, which often gave us no extra information. A lot of people booked for new sailings with Bluebridge while on board."

The passenger said the confusion continued once the ship had berthed, but acknowledged it was a "hugely challenging situation" for staff.

"There was a large line at enquiries and the staff in the terminal were incredibly polite but also didn't have the information to pass on."

He said while in the terminal he received a text advising he had been rebooked on a Saturday morning sailing, but was unsure if he would take up the offer as he had already missed the event he was planning on attending.

"[We] are unsure if we will be refunded," he said.

"We were foot passengers and many people with cars had no further information as we left the terminal."

Appropriate authorities notified - Interislander boss

Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said technical staff based in Wellington would be investigating the problem.

"The issue became apparent as part of standard procedures prior to entering Tory Channel and the return to Wellington was decided on as a safety precaution rather than sailing through the Sounds," he said.

"The appropriate authorities have been notified, and we will work with our passengers and freight customers to reschedule them."

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