To say the atmosphere was tense on the bridge of the Interislander ferry Aratere on the evening of June 21 would probably be putting things mildly.
As the vessel continued moving steadily towards the shore, it can hardly have been an edifying prospect for passengers on board either, though somewhat mercifully it was dark.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s draft report now says, based on interviews with the crew and evidence from the voyage-data recorder, the ship’s autopilot was incorrectly deployed as Aratere made its way up Picton Harbour.
A new Kongsberg steering system had been installed on the vessel in May and, even though 83 inter-island crossings were made between then and the fateful evening, senior crew on the bridge were unsure how to cancel the auto-steering and return control to the central console.
The ship’s engines were put at full astern about a minute before hitting the shore, and manual steering was only engaged 44 seconds before the grounding.
Nobody was injured, but there was some internal damage to the vessel’s bulbous bow.
KiwiRail says it has been working with Konsberg to understand what happened and has ‘‘issued new guidance on the use of the autopilot system and upgraded retraining’’, as well as implementing lessons learnt in its own investigation.
That is all well and good. However, while mistakes can always happen, it is alarming that, according to the commission, it appears the crew on the Aratere bridge were not fully aware of how the autopilot worked.
The key question remains why weren’t they?
Lots to smile about
Push all that dreary, grim news to one side and think about the great things that have taken place in our community this week.
There is never any shortage of good news, if you go looking for it, but it does tend to get swamped by the shocking, the dramatic, the life-changing and earth-shattering events which reverberate across the world.
If you’re wanting a reminder to feel positive about the future, you can’t go past Class Act.
We remain incredibly proud of Class Act - not just about being able to run such a constructive and encouraging event each year, but also at the involvement of the Otago Daily Times with so many bright, engaged and energetic students who genuinely want to make the world a better place.
It always lifts the spirits to see the level of support for our Class Act recipients, from their classmates to parents to school communities and others.
It is also pleasing to be able to welcome the prime minister of the day to the South and put aside political jousting during the students’ big occasion.
Other worthy and heartening news this week came from Mosgiel, where the new pool, Te Puna o Whakaehu, continues to delight the community.
Figures from the Dunedin City Council’s draft annual plan show there were more than 160,000 visits to the pool in 2023-24, compared with the target at the old pool of about 44,000 visits a year.
What a fabulous facility we now have on the Taieri, one to be enjoyed and which also inspires people to get off the couch and do some exercise.
Thirdly, we mustn’t forget the wonderful international recognition some real local heroes received this week.
The Bowling Club in Caversham has been making affordable and accessible vegetarian meals for the community for more than a year. Meals are generally $4 each but often many are given away free.
Co-owners Liam Arthur and Jackie Bannon have just won $70,000 from Xero’s 2024 Beautiful Business Fund for their restaurant, which was named as New Zealand and global winner of the ‘‘strengthening community connection’’ award.
It’s a great reminder we still have so much to be thankful for and that there are folk who put others ahead of themselves in life.
There are amazing people out there around the South doing amazing things every day.
