The Kaiarahi ferry has a mechanical fault. Photo: Interislander
Correction: An earlier version of this story said all passenger sailings had been cancelled. Only passenger crossings of the Kaiarahi ferry have been cancelled.
All passenger sailings on the Interislander's Kaiarahi ferry have been cancelled until Sunday afternoon "at the earliest".
The Cook Strait ferry is still sailing with freight, but will not take passengers until a mechanical fault is fixed.
The operator initially cancelled Wednesday's three sailings, but has now extended cancellations to Sunday.
"During a scheduled asset maintenance survey, a fault was found with the lifeboat reengagement system, used to reattach the lifeboats onto Kaiarahi after use," said Interislander operations general manager Duncan Roy.
"While the safety of the ship was unaffected, further testing revealed a faulty part requiring replacement."
Until that part is sourced, the ferry would not take passengers, he said.
"We regret the disruption, but safety is our top priority."
Customers would be contacted and transferred to the next available sailing, or offered a refund.
On social media, one passenger said she was stuck in Picton until another ferry sailing on Friday, and Interislander did not offer help with accommodation.
Another said she now had to stay with family in Christchurch until Monday.
'Not a good look'
The Interislander's ongoing failures were an embarrassment, a holidaymaker stranded in the South Island said.
Michael Hutching was due to sail from Picton to Wellington this Friday, and was waiting to see when he might be rebooked.
"Failing that, I guess we could move to the South Island."
Some tourists he spoke to could miss their flights home to Germany as a result of the cancellations, he said.
"There must be a lot of other tourists in that situation, and it's not a good look. We felt really apologetic just for the way the country's running, that we can't get a ferry service that's reliable."
The ongoing disruptions with Interislander ferries showed the government's decision to can the build of two new ferries was a massive mistake, he said.