Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has taken a dig at the Government over the Interislander ferry running aground overnight.
The Aratere carrying more than 40 people between Wellington and Picton ran aground in Titoko Bay on Friday night but nobody was injured, officials said.
"There have been no injuries reported and there is no danger to life. There is also no water ingress (entering the vessel) and no oil going into the marine environment," Maritime NZ said in a statement, adding the vessel would be refloated when tidal conditions allow.
Images on social media showed the ferry against a rocky cliff face.
Just hours after the news of the ship running aground, Clark said on X: "Just saying: Didn't someone cancel the order for badly needed new NZ inter-island ferries... Are we at risk of losing the vital link connecting the North & South Islands?"
Clark was referring to a decision by Finance Minister Nicola Willis late last year to not contribute significant new funding to address cost escalations involved in replacing the Interislander ferry fleet.
At the time, Willis said "important questions" needed to be asked and answered as to how the Cook Strait ferry upgrade project has "blown out at regular intervals".
Newshub has contacted Willis' office for a response to Clark's comments.
Meanwhile, Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter urged the Government to "come to the table with funding".
It comes after Transport Minister Simeon Brown earlier this week spoke of being "highly unimpressed" with how the Interislander ferry fleet had been maintained by KiwiRail.
Brown told a Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee meeting on Thursday the Government had "impressed upon" KiwiRail the "importance of having well-maintained Cook Strait ferries, which has not been the case in the last few years".
But Genter said it was "time to stop playing the blame game with KiwiRail".
"Nicola Willis' reckless decision to cancel the contract for new ferries without an alternative plan in place is disastrous for New Zealand," Genter said on Saturday.
"In what has become a hallmark of this Coalition Government, it has thrown all of its transport eggs into the roading basket, failing to adequately invest in rail and low-carbon, low-cost forms of transport.
"It's time for the Government to take responsibility and present some real solutions rather than continue making excuses."
