Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says there are "lots of stories and rumours" about what led to the Aratere ferry grounding and he will wait until seeing a formal report before commenting.
The Interislander vessel ran aground shortly after leaving Picton on June 21, due to what authorities described as a "steering failure".
It was later re-floated.
Yesterday, an internal safety bulletin obtained by 1News said the Aratere ran aground after a button was "inadvertently pressed", sending the vessel off-course.
According to the bulletin, dated July 5, the bridge crew had switched the Aratere from hand steering to autopilot as it passed Mabel Island when an "execute button was inadvertently pressed" at 9.26pm.
On Tuesday, NZ First posed a question about what may have happened on its official X account.
"Is it true that the Aratere ran aground when someone put the autopilot on, went for a coffee, and then couldn’t turn the autopilot off in time when that someone came back?
"If so, why haven't the public been told that?" the post read.
In Washington today Luxon was asked if he'd been briefed on the issues raised in the safety bulletin.
"All I know is there will be a lot of stories and rumour about what actually did or didn't happen."
"We have a TAIC investigation up and running and also a Maritime NZ investigation up and running. I will wait until I see those formal reports before I pass any comment."
When asked directly about New Zealand First leader Winston Peters - who previously said he did not make the post but has questioned the official responses to it and spoken about the autopilot - he added: "I haven't seen what Winston has seen or done otherwise."
"I appreciate there is lots of stories and rumours and reckons as to what people think has happened.
"We have a process in place, our government will be responding to those formal reports issued by Maritime NZ and TAIC."
Maritime New Zealand said after the X post that "conjecture about the cause of the grounding was unhelpful" as investigators were continuing to look into it.
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy said there were a "regulated number of qualified people" on the Aratere's bridge on the night of the grounding.
"We would not normally respond to speculation while an investigation is underway.
"However, we can say that there is a regulated number of qualified people who need to be in attendance on the ship’s bridge at all times, and we meet this without exception — including on the night of the grounding," he said.
KiwiRail responds to safety bulletin
KiwiRail said the safety bulletin that was issued to crew is "standard maritime procedure".
"It is designed to quickly ensure crew awareness across the fleet after a serious incident, with what is known at the time.
"It does not replace the three full investigations (KiwiRail, Maritime NZ and TAIC) into the grounding incident that are underway. The Safety Bulletin states this.
"Aratere's autopilot system is not new and has been operating since 2007. It is important that we understand all of the factors involved in the incident, including the underlying causes. A fair and thorough investigation process is crucial for all parties and is being followed."
Three investigations are looking at what happened to the vessel when it hit the coastline near Picton. (Source: 1News)
On Tuesday, Maritime New Zealand suggested that "conjecture about the cause of the grounding was unhelpful" as investigators were continuing to look into it.
"The cause of the incident is currently being investigated by both Maritime NZ and Transport Accident Investigation Commission," a spokesperson said.
At the time of the grounding, KiwiRail said work had just been completed on the Aratere, including the replacement of the steering mechanism.
"We pre-emptively replaced the steering mechanism with a brand-new system."
Eight commercial vehicle drivers and 39 crew were on board at the time of the incident. with the ferry carrying commercial trucks and general freight.
Officials said KiwiRail was "pretty disappointed" with the grounding, considering the amount of maintenance work that had been recently completed on the vessel.
However, they also defended the reliability of the ferries, with chief executive Peter Reidy saying they had "99.6% reliability" in the last six months.
The grounding marked the latest in a series of incidents which have plagued the vessel in its 25 years crossing the Cook Strait.
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