Government announces shipbuilder for new Interislander ferries

Rail Minister Winston Peters says the Government wants "the best deal possible for New Zealand taxpayers". Photo / Mark Mitchell

By Nick James of RNZ

Guangzhou Shipyard International will build the two new Interislander ferries, set to arrive in four years’ time, the Government has announced.

The Government revealed in March it would buy two new Interislander ferries to replace the current ageing fleet.

The new ferries are expected to come into service in 2029.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis pulled the plug on the previous Government’s Cook Strait mega ferry plan, named iReX, in 2023.

The new ships would be 200m long and rail-enabled, which meant rail freight could be rolled on and off them.

Rail Minister Winston Peters said Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) had been secured as the shipbuilder for the new ferries, through the procuring company Ferry Holdings.

“We want the best deal possible for New Zealand taxpayers and a shipbuilder of the competence, capability and capacity of GSI underscores the high degree of confidence in our no-nonsense ferry replacement programme,“ he said.

Peters said Ferry Holdings and GSI were still in negotiations, which meant details would not be disclosed until they were completed, alongside port agreements with CentrePort and Port Marlborough.

“We intend to make an announcement before the end of this year detailing our agreements and how we have saved the taxpayer billions by cancelling project iReX and returning to the no-nonsense solution we started in May 2020.”

It was announced last week KiwiRail had agreed to sell the Interislander ferry Aratere to a buyer, which will deliver it to a specialist recycling shipyard in India.

Aratere had to be retired because of work on port infrastructure for the two new ferries.

– RNZ