Editorial: Cook Strait ferries need fixing, as Wellington-Picton travellers know all too well

Significant investment is going to be needed just to bring the ferries up to a respectable standard. Photo / Mark Mitchell

EDITORIAL

On a hot summer’s day travelling through the picturesque portside town of Picton, anyone could be forgiven for thinking something big is on the way.

A torn-down terminal is surrounded by banners proudly exclaiming, “Work on your new ferry terminal is under way! 2022 to 2025.”

It’s the iRex project, a “transformational” exercise that will create a new “iconic connection” between our two islands with two new hybrid-electric mega-ferries and specially designed terminals to “mirror the cultural landscape they sit within”.

Heady stuff and, sadly, too good to be true.

There’s no sign of a new terminal in Picton, only the hull of the old one skulking alongside a tired ferry. No construction under way, no air of activity.

A new year has dawned, it’s 2024 - and the advertising and its promises are a clear relic from the not-too-distant past.

Only a month ago the Government decided the new ferries and accompanying wharfside infrastructure - in both Picton and Wellington - had become too expensive and funding needed to be scrapped.

The cost blowout was hard to justify, jumping from an estimated $1.45 billion to just over $3b.

At the time, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said: “The Government remains committed to a resilient, safe and reliable Cook Strait connection.”

But for the thousands who’ve sailed across Cook Strait this summer, it will have been disturbingly clear that significant investment is going to be needed just to bring the ferries up to a respectable standard.

Banners celebrating the iRex project remain in Picton, despite the Government scrapping funding in December.

Gone are the days of “Cruising on the Interislander”, when the furnishings were modern, the experience enjoyable.

Now it all feels tired and temperamental.

The carpets are worn, the seats dirty, the food offerings unchanged. Butter chicken, fish and chips, or pasta?

There’s an air of apprehension around whether the ferry will depart on time - or at all.

The highlights are the spectacular scenery and friendly staff; but even they only seem to show up the shabbiness of the vessel itself.

It’s one thing to cancel a project that was unaffordable and had become unjustifiable, but the galling thing with the ferries is that there’s no alternative. The ships are already well past their best, limping across a challenging stretch of ocean.

Only 10 days into the new year, an issue had already presented itself on board the Kaiarahi, with a dodgy sensor adding an extra hour to the voyage from Wellington to Picton.

Sitting among fellow travellers - both residents and tourists coming to enjoy our country - it’s embarrassing to think this is the standard we’ve come to accept.

In Picton you might be able to fool yourself that it’s still 2023, when the promise of sparkly new ferries is alive and better times lie ahead.

Disembarking in Wellington, it’s impossible to ignore the reality.

The ferries break down, the streets are still leaking precious drinking water, and a new government has moved in with a new financial mindset.

Where - or if - it’ll find money to fix up our ferries is anyone’s guess. But one thing’s for sure - it’s not going to come cheap.