Two new Cook Strait ferries will be operated by KiwiRail, and named Kupe and Cook, Rail Minister Winston Peters says.
The announcement, made on Friday, follows a lengthy, turbulent period for the new ferries, with negotiations, changes and cost blow outs going back years and over successive governments.
Ship construction was scheduled to start in 2027 and the ferries will arrive in 2029. They will be operated by KiwiRail for their 30-year lifespan, with the arrangement reviewed in 2039.
“KiwiRail has run the Interislander since its inception in 1962, and in our book, experience counts," Peters said.
"This decision keeps the rail freight network and ferry operation working as one system, supporting the critical domestic freight route between Auckland and Christchurch."
Peters said KiwiRail had demonstrated "improved performance, with Interislander reliability now at 98% and KiwiRail is poised, pending final audit, to achieve its $160 million earnings target to 30 June 2026".
"KiwiRail will pay commercially priced port fees to CentrePort, Port Marlborough and Ferry Holdings. CentrePort and Port Marlborough will earn a reasonable return on their $100 million and $110 million contributions respectively.
“Because more complex new infrastructure is being built in Picton with $373 million to be paid by Ferry Holdings, a special purpose vehicle will be established to co-own assets between Port Marlborough and Ferry Holdings."
He said the Government has reconfirmed the "taxpayer contribution to the programme will be no more than $1.7 billion, as announced in November 2025 alongside confirmation of a fixed price contract with Guangzhou Shipyard International".
On the names, Peters said: "Kupe and Cook reflect New Zealand as it actually is: a country shaped by the sea, by settlement, by risk, by enterprise, and by people who crossed dangerous waters in search of a future."
4 Comments
I name these ships Kupe and Cook. May god bless them and all that sail in them. So far so good?
Winnie missed a trick. He should have "gifted" the names. Then no-one would be able to complain or change them.
When combining the $671 million
in wasted iReX exit costs, the $1.92 billion
updated replacement budget, and the hundreds of millions required to keep the old ships running through 2029, critics and independent analyses place the true cost of the entire saga well beyond $2.6 billion
Any specs on these new ferries? The Hyundai ones we cancelled were hybrid with 40% less emissions = 40% less fuel consumption, and would have arrived this year meaning lower operating costs already.
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