There were no injuries and everybody was evacuated safely after New Zealand Coastguard evacuated passengers from an Island Direct ferry after the vessel had engine issues, initially thought to be a fire, on Thursday afternoon (23 October).
Coastguard spokeswoman Kimberley Waters says the Maritime Operations Centre received a mayday call from the ferry about a suspected fire onboard through VHF channel 16 at 3.40pm. The ferry, Te Waiora, joined Island Direct’s fleet just this week.
Three Coastguard vessels were on the water, with Coastguard Auckland coordinating the evacuation of 18 passengers and six crew from the ferry. Coastguard Howick and the police vessel Deodar picked up fire fighter crews from Waiheke and Parnell, and took them out to the ferry.
In a media statement, an Island Direct spokesperson said the 3.30pm ferry, headed from Mātiatia to Auckland, had an issue with the exhaust on one of the engines. “The resulting smoke was initially reported as a fire, [but] our engineers have now confirmed that there was no fire. Our highly trained crew acted immediately, following emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all onboard.”
The Island Direct spokesperson said the ferry operator worked with the Coastguard and police to get all evacuated passengers and crew safely to Auckland. “We sincerely thank the NZ Coastguard and Maritime Police for their swift assistance. The safety of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority. We apologise to our customers for any distress or disruption this afternoon’s incident has caused.”
• Paul Mitchell
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