Ageing Ferries Won’t Be Replaced, Putting Passengers and Trade at Risk

The New Zealand government refuses to fund replacement of ageing inter-island ferry fleet, putting passengers and $15 billion worth of freight at risk.

A KiwiRail Interislander ferry berthed at the terminal in Wellington. Courtesy of KiwiRail

The New Zealand government has forced KiwiRail to abandon plans to replace its ageing fleet of ferries, which carry freight and passengers across Cook Strait.

The fleet is prone to regular breakdowns, frustrating the transport sector: Freightways, for instance, moves over 25 trucks a day each way on Cook Strait ferries, and chief executive Mark Troughear says cancellations “play absolute havoc” with logistics.