A luxury cruise ship made an unexpected visit to Bluff Harbour. The French L'Austral ship pulled into South Port, Bluff, after hitting an object at sea.
At approx 6.30 pm on Thursday, over 200 passengers and crew were disembarked so the ship could be repaired.
Buses were transporting the passengers from the harbour into Bluff to the town centre.
All passengers had initially been told to disembark the ship but were able to return after initial checks were done. Bluff was not a scheduled stop for the cruise ship touring New Zealand.