The New Zealand government has allocated NZD 400m ($242m) to state-owned KiwiRail to build two new ropax vessels to replace its existing fleet of three ageing ferries.
The figure is part of a wider NZD 1.2b earmarked in the government’s 2020 budget to upgrade the country’s rail and ferry infrastructure.
KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller told local media this week that capital funding promised for the new ferries highlighted the importance of the ferry service between New Zealand’s north and south islands.
“Our Cook Strait ferries are an extension of State Highway 1, moving 800,000 passengers and up to NZD14b worth of road and rail freight” Miller explained, while describing the proposed new ships as a "once-in-a generation investment".
Miller said the new ships would be more advanced and produce significantly lower emissions than the company’s three existing vessels.
KiwiRail, which runs its ferry services under the Interislander brand name, currently operates the Van der Giessen Noord-built 22,400-gt ropax Kaitaki (built 1995), along with Sevilla Astilleros-built 22,200-gt Kaiarahi (built 1998) and the Barreras-built 17,800-gt Aratere (built 1998).
The company first indicted it wanted to build the new ships in March 2019.
Last November it revealed that Danish naval architects, OSK ShipTech AS were developing the design of the two new ships, while French-based shipbroker BRS Group is being used to facilitate the search for potential suppliers of the vessels.
The contract for the two new ships will go out to international tender, with the ships slated to enter service by 2025.
