Six people were hurt when a Shotover Jet boat crashed into rocks in the canyon near Queenstown on Friday afternoon, halting rides at one of New Zealand’s best known tourist attractions during the busy winter holiday season.
Emergency services were called to the Shotover River about 3.15pm on 10 July after the jet boat struck rocks during a run through the gorge with passengers on board. St John ambulance staff assessed the injured at the scene and said five people were in a minor condition, while two were taken to Lakes District Hospital in Frankton for treatment, RNZ reported. Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews also attended.
Ngāi Tahu Tourism, which owns and runs Shotover Jet, said it had stopped trips while it worked to establish what went wrong. General manager Jolanda Cave said the company’s first concern was for the people who were injured. “We are working closely with the relevant authorities as they establish the circumstances surrounding the incident,” she said.
By Friday evening two people remained in hospital, with the others treated for minor injuries and released. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, and it was not known whether the boat was carrying out one of its trademark high speed turns when it hit the rocks.
Shotover Jet is one of Queenstown’s oldest and most recognisable experiences. The boats run through the narrow Arthurs Point Gorge on the Shotover River, weaving close to the rock walls at speed and spinning full circles as spray flies over the passengers. The ride has become a fixture of the Queenstown tourism trade, drawing visitors from around the world alongside the town’s bungy jumping, skiing and lake cruises.
The operation has been running since 1965 and more than 4.6 million people have taken the trip in the six decades since, according to a recent RNZ feature marking the company’s 60th year. What started with a couple of local men and a small wooden boat carrying four or five people at around 30 kilometres an hour grew through the 1970s and 1980s into the thrill ride it is today.
South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu took a stake in the business through a handshake deal in 1999 and moved to full ownership by 2004, making it one of the flagship ventures in the iwi’s tourism arm. The company has been modernising its fleet in recent years, with newer boats using about 30 percent less fuel than the models they replaced and longer term plans to shift towards electric or hydrogen power.
Jet boating in the Queenstown canyons carries obvious risks alongside the thrills, and the sector has had accidents before. In 2019 a separate operator, KJet, halted its trips and launched an investigation after a crash on the Shotover River left several passengers needing hospital treatment. Commercial jet boat operators work under safety rules overseen by Maritime New Zealand, and serious incidents can be looked at by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, which examines what happened and whether any lessons should change how the boats are run.
Friday’s crash landed in the middle of one of the busiest stretches of the Queenstown calendar. The July school holidays and the peak of the ski season bring large numbers of visitors to the resort town, and operators across the district run near capacity through the middle of winter. Jet boat trips continue year round, with passengers wrapped in blankets and spray jackets against the cold as the boats push up the icy river.
The crash puts a fresh spotlight on how one of the country’s oldest adventure tourism brands manages the balance between spectacle and safety. The company said it would not speculate on the cause while the review was under way, and that establishing the facts was a matter for it and the authorities to work through together.
Queenstown’s adventure tourism industry has built its global reputation on carefully managed risk, and operators are quick to point to strong safety records built over decades. A crash that sends people to hospital, however, is a reminder that the rivers and gorges that make the rides so popular are also unforgiving. The Shotover in particular runs fast and shallow in places, with rocks close to the surface and little room for error in the tighter parts of the canyon.
For now, Shotover Jet’s boats are tied up while the operator and the authorities work through what happened. The company has not said when rides will resume, and any restart is likely to wait until it is satisfied it understands why the boat hit the rocks. Ngāi Tahu Tourism said its thoughts were with those who were hurt and thanked the emergency crews who responded.
Have you ridden the Shotover Jet, or been on a jet boat trip in the South Island canyons? Share your experience and your thoughts on adventure tourism safety in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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