The retirement of Interislander’s Aratere means pressure is on the Government to keep its Cook Strait ferry replacement programme on track, according to road freight association Transporting New Zealand.
The rail-enabled vessel completed its final sailing this week after 26 years of service, leaving the Interislander fleet at two ships without a replacement contract yet signed.
Ferry Holdings, the Crown-established company charged with negotiating ferry procurement contracts for two new rail-enabled inter-island ferries, expects the replacement vessels to arrive by 2029.
Until then, Interislander’s Cook Strait crossings will be serviced by rail-compatible ferries without on-board tracks for wagons. That means rail freight (about 5 per cent of the national rail task by tonnage) will be “road bridged,” where freight is moved off wagons and transported onto ferries, an approach commonly used internationally.
Several key project milestones are due by the end of September, including a letter of intent with a preferred shipyard and the completion of ship contract negotiations, subject to ministerial approval. Agreements covering multi-party port infrastructure scope, costs and scheduling were also due this quarter.
Rail Minister Winston Peters updated Transporting New Zealand and its members on Thursday, saying: “The timeline, scope and approach we supplied in May 2025 remains in place… Ferry Holdings remains on track to complete negotiations later this year with the successful shipyard.”
The Minister says port infrastructure agreements between Ferry Holdings, CentrePort, Port Marlborough and KiwiRail “will be signed in the final quarter of this calendar year, alongside the ship contracts, enabling the Government to announce details of the Ferry Holdings Cook Strait Ferry Replacement Project”.
Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih welcomed the update but warned the sector expected delivery without further setbacks.
“Due to some decision-paralysis after the cancellation of Project iReX, it’s particularly important that Minister Peters and Ferry Holdings proceed at pace with the ferry replacement project.
“We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the project is tracking against its schedule, particularly as we approach the end of the year.”
Kalasih says the freight industry also wanted clearer communication from KiwiRail.
“We have also encouraged KiwiRail to provide regular updates to Transporting New Zealand and its members on how they’re planning to manage demand, particularly during busy holiday periods and seasonal freight peaks.”
