Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Road freight association Transporting New Zealand says the pressure is on for the Government to meet its Cook Strait ferry replacement milestones, as the Interislander fleet drops to two vessels without a contract for new ferries being signed.
The rail-enabled Aratere completed its final sailing this week, after 26 years of service. The Cook Strait crossing will be serviced by rail- compatible vessels until 2029 (ferries without train tracks for rail wagons to be shunted on).
The rail freight that moves across the Strait (only 5 percent of the total rail task by tonnage) will be removed from train wagons and onto ferries, a standard international practice known as “road bridging”.
Several ferry replacement project milestones are approaching at the end of September (third quarter 2025), including a letter of intent being signed with a preferred shipyard, and the ship contract negotiation being completed (subject to Ministerial decisions and contract execution between October and December).
In relation to port infrastructure, commercial agreements on multi-party infrastructure scope, costs and programme schedule were also scheduled to be reached by September.
Minister for Rail, Winston Peters provided an update to Transporting New Zealand and its members today (21 August 2025) advising that:
“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 advised that agreements relating to port infrastructure between Ferry Holdings (the ferry procurement company established by the Government), 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 has welcomed the update from the Minister but says the road freight sector expect the Government to keep to schedule and avoid any more costly delays.
“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.”
“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.”
