The ship had just returned to service after being sent to a routine dry dock in Sydney in February. Due to a technical problem, the ship had to dock overnight in Picton and will sail to Wellington this morning without passengers.
A service alert from Bluebridge said the 2am morning sailing from Wellington and the 7:45am sailing from Picton have been cancelled.
This morning it will be decided whether the 1.30 pm sailing from Wellington and the 7.15 pm sailing from Picton can take place.
“We understand that this is very disruptive to our customers’ travel plans and we are sorry,” the statement read.
“Unfortunately we have almost no available vehicle space on other sailings in the coming weeks. The only option we can provide affected passengers with a vehicle is a full ticket refund.”
It is the latest in a long line of problems for the Cook Strait ferries, with cancellations plaguing the Interislander and Bluebridge.
Last week, Bluebridge’s new Cook Strait ferry underwent repairs for the third time after joining the fleet less than two months ago.
A statement on the company’s website said Connemara had encountered a technical problem and was being repaired in Wellington.
This is after the ferry first ran into trouble on its way to Picton last month and was forced to turn back and dock in Wellington due to an engine problem.
Meanwhile, rival operator Interislander has informed customers that all passenger bookings on Kaitaki have now been canceled until the end of this month as gearbox repairs are taking longer than expected.