The Government has selected Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) to build two new ferries for New Zealand due for completion in 2029.
Rail Minister Winston Peters confirmed the deal and says Ferry Holdings Limited, the Crown’s procuring company, secured GSI as the builder and is finalising terms.
“GSI is the largest modern integrated shipbuilding enterprise in Southern China, founded in 1954 and is listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges,” Peters says.
“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.
“Ferry Holdings and GSI are still in negotiations, and details will not be disclosed until these negotiations are completed along with the port agreements with CentrePort Limited and Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited.
“As we said in early September, we have secured major components including a fixed price, completion in 2029, and full delivery of our ship specifications for 200-metre-long ferries with road and rail decks, and room for 1,500 passengers each,” Peters says.
“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,” he says.
About Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI)
Founded in 1954, Guangzhou Shipyard International is one of the largest shipbuilders in southern China. Since 2018 it has operated from Nansha Island, covering about 3.02 million square metres with 5.2km of deep-water wharf. The yard has extensive shipbuilding and repair facilities and builds roll-on/roll-off passenger vessels, MR (medium range) and LR (long range) oil tankers, semi-submersible vessels and very large ore carriers (VLOCs). GSI reports annual shipbuilding capacity of around 3.6 million deadweight tonnes and repair capacity of more than 200 ships.
