Marlborough’s Harbourmaster has announced that an attempt to refloat the Aratere, currently aground in the inner Picton Harbour north of Bobs Bay, will be made this evening around 9pm, at high tide.

The operation is likely to take several hours. KiwiRail is leading the refloat exercise with expert oversight from Maritime New Zealand.

Port Marlborough’s two tugs Maungatea and Monowai will assist with the refloat exercise and will be positioned at the stern of the vessel with the Aratere also using its own propulsion.

The joint decision has been made to refloat the vessel after investigative works were completed today to confirm the grounding pressure of the boat and vessel design using divers and with input from naval architects and technical experts.

A coordinated recovery plan, including a stabilisation plan once the vessel is refloated and a transition plan to move the vessel to anchorage overnight, has been put together by KiwiRail and was reviewed by the Harbourmaster, Maritime New Zealand and Port Marlborough New Zealand this evening.

Harbourmaster Jake Oliver said if the refloat was successful the Aratere would then be anchored, stabilised and tomorrow it would be moved to a berth.

“Oil spill booms had been put in place to protect against any possible environmental effects but there is no sign of any oil spill. These will be moved out of the way while the vessel is refloated. Council’s Environmental Science team have been involved from the outset to ensure environmental safety,” Mr Oliver said.

More information will be made available as it comes to hand.

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