Bluebridge has acknowledged an overbooking incident on Sunday, January 11th, that resulted in up to 36 passengers being required to disembark from the ferry Livia prior to departure from Wellington. The situation arose amid ongoing disruption to the operator’s schedule following mechanical issues on another vessel in the fleet.
The company explained that, as it sought to accommodate passengers displaced by the cancellation of Connemara sailings, a number of standby passengers were inadvertently accepted onto Livia’s afternoon service. Once the capacity issue was identified, affected passengers were asked to return ashore. Bluebridge indicated that it worked with those passengers to rebook their travel and arrange compensation for associated costs, and expressed appreciation for their cooperation.
The operator noted that the disruption followed several days of operational difficulty linked to a mechanical failure aboard Connemara. That vessel has been out of service since Thursday while repairs were carried out on a winch associated with the stern door, which previously seized and left approximately 200 passengers on board for close to 15 hours. To mitigate the impact, Livia operated additional sailings on Saturday to address part of the capacity shortfall.
According to the company, repair work on Connemara’s stern door was progressing in line with expectations, with the vessel anticipated to return to service on a scheduled evening departure. Connemara is currently expected to resume regular sailings at 08:30 p.m. on Monday.