Pressure is mounting on Cook Strait ferry services after yet another breakdown.
The Interislander's Kaitaki vessel was forced to dock again on Sunday, only one day after it was given the all-clear to sail following an engine failure in January.
It's prompted calls for an independent inquiry into the state of our ferries.
Wellington school students eagerly waited to board an Interislander ferry to their school camp.
"It's gonna be fun," one student said.
"I'm really excited for this trip," another student said.
A trip that almost didn't happen, because their Kaitaki sailing this morning was canned.
"Through a whole lot of negotiating the ferry company put us on a 1pm ferry sailing," Kapakapuni School principal Craig Vidulich.
Peter Standish was also waiting for the 1pm sailing. He'd been waiting for three weeks since his last Kaitaki sailing was cancelled.
"So far we've spent about $1200 in accommodation just to stay here," he said.
Standish was stranded after the Kaitaki lost power near Wellington in January and started drifting towards rocks.
He was finally able to be re-booked on a crossing today but without his wheels.
"It's for a foot passenger only, leaving us without a car to return to, so our car has had to be put into storage," Standish told Newshub.
Sunday's sailing was the first weekend Kaitaki had taken passengers since that January incident - only to be docked due to an engineering issue.
"We really need to know what's going on, because it not only affects freight but passengers and tourists too," Public Transport Users' Association spokesperson Jon Reeves said.
Interislander general manager Walter Rushbrook said in a statement the Kaitaki ferry will be out of service for at least the next two weeks due to a fault with the ship's gearbox.
He admitted the ships are ageing and said that's why Interislander is bringing two new ships into service from 2025.
In the meantime, the Public Transport User's Association said we need an inquiry into the state of our Cook Strait ferries.
