![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/american-tourist-chris-friedman-KC44R6UXFNFP7CPYMGV4X2KBY4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDozens of passengers have been evacuated from a tourist boat after it capsized in Akaroa Harbour today. <\/p>\n
The incident involved a Black Cat Cruises vessel, which departed Akaroa Wharf at 10.45am with 41 people on board before getting into trouble on its return journey.<\/p>\n
Black Cat Cruises chief executive Paul Milligan confirmed in a statement that passengers were evacuated at 12.20pm on Saturday after the vessel grounded just outside the Akaroa Heads.<\/p>\n
All 38 passengers and three crew on board were safely evacuated and taken back to the Main Wharf with no injuries reported, he said.<\/p>\n
“While some passengers were shaken by the experience, they all commended the crew for their calm, efficient and reassuring manner when evacuating the vessel.”<\/p>\n
The vessel was currently beached with efforts underway to recover it.<\/p>\n
“This is [the] first incident to occur in over 40 years of this nature and naturally safety is our No 1 priority, and we are deeply saddened that this has occurred.”<\/p>\n
Black Cat Cruises was grateful for the support of local operators and boaties that assisted during this incident, he said.<\/p>\n
“We are commencing an investigation into the incident and working with authorities on the matter.”<\/p>\n
The incident involved a Black Cat cruise vessel, with 39 passengers and three crew members on board. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
‘We felt a thud’ <\/p>\n
American tourist Chris Friedman told 1News he was onboard with his partner and enjoying the dolphin\u2011watching trip when they suddenly felt a heavy impact.<\/p>\n
“We were enjoying a beautiful morning, seeing lots of dolphins,” Friedman said. <\/p>\n
“About halfway back, we felt a thud. At first we wondered if it was a dolphin or a seal strike.”<\/p>\n
Friedman said within five minutes, passengers were told to move into the interior of the vessel and don life jackets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point we noticed water coming into the boat, then we started to see smoke in the galley area. <\/p>\n
Nearby private boats responded first. Friedman said passengers were transferred one group at a time, while some remained onboard during the early stages of the evacuation.<\/p>\n
He and his partner were shaken but unhurt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
American tourist Chris Friedman. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just feel bad for the people who panicked, especially a couple of children who were scared. But we\u2019re okay. In the end it\u2019s a good story \u2014 and thankfully everyone seems to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair had been wrapping up a 12-day trip around New Zealand and were due to fly home to San Francisco on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“Quite the epic adventure for our final full day here in New Zealand.”<\/p>\n
Exclusion zone in place – Environment Canterbury<\/p>\n
An Environment Canterbury spokesperson said an exclusion zone was put in place, and all vessels “must stay clear to ensure the safety of those involved in the response”.<\/p>\n
“We do not yet know the fuel quantity on-board,” they said. <\/p>\n
“We are currently assessing and monitoring the situation to safely minimise the impact of fuel and debris on the environment. We have declared a Teir 2 incident response,” the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
“We are working alongside the owner, emergency services, the Department of Conservation, Maritime New Zealand, Iwi and the local community.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of passengers have been evacuated from a tourist boat after it capsized in Akaroa Harbour today. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1081,158,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-260468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-accident","9":"tag-christchurch-canterbury","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}