The Interislander ferry Aratere suffered a breakdown on Wednesday evening shortly after departing Picton, forcing the cancellation of multiple sailings.

A KiwiRail spokesperson told chrislynchmedia.com “After leaving Picton at around 8.50pm, Aratere experienced an unexpected issue with its propulsion drive.”

“The vessel is currently anchored in the Marlborough Sounds and Interislander’s specialist electrician is en route.”

“The fault means the vessel needs to return to its Picton berth with a tug standing by to provide assistance if needed.”

The incident resulted in the cancellation of Wednesday evening’s sailing.

“Unfortunately, this has meant the cancellation of the Wednesday evening 8.50pm sailing from Picton. We are looking after the customers on board and once the vessel returns to port, we will transfer them to alternative sailings.”

The disruption is expected to impact Thursday morning services as well.

“The cancellation will also likely impact tomorrow morning’s sailings and we will work to reschedule any impacted passengers once we have a clearer timeline.”