Editorial: Cook Strait ferries sailing on borrowed time

The Interislander ferry Kaiarahi. Photo / Marty Melville

EDITORIAL

Revelations the cost to keep Interislander ferries sailing is fast becoming “prohibitive” raises serious concerns about how long the ships will be able to remain in service while the country awaits plan B.

It’s been six months since the Government pulled the plug on the iRex project, designed to “transform” inter-island travel with two new rail-enabled mega-ferries, new terminals and upgraded wharves.

Ultimately the project was deemed too expensive after costs ballooned to almost $3 billion, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis said people were “dreaming” if they thought the mega-ferries would be delivered on time given the project’s history of delays, budget blowouts and other problems.

Now KiwiRail is left with three ageing ferries while a Ministerial Advisory Group investigates new options for the future of the ferry service.

It’s a big ask for the group, given it appears the existing Interislander vessels are already nearing the end of their serviceable lives.

A 2021 detailed business case for the mega-ferry project outlines an “ongoing battle” to keep the existing ferries afloat given steel corrosion, metal getting weak and cracking, and escalating maintenance costs.

“The cost of maintaining the current fleet is becoming prohibitive,” the report said.

It cost $33m to maintain the fleet in 2021-22, but KiwiRail estimates that will nearly double to $65m a year if the existing fleet is required to continue across 2025-2030.

“The existing ferries will reach the end of their serviceable and economic lives by the mid-2020s and will become increasingly unreliable and costly to maintain,” the report said.

“Ships’ lives cannot be extended in perpetuity. Rust and obsolescence of systems means the ships will ultimately lose their maritime ‘warrant of fitness’ and have to stop operating.”

Compounding the problem is the fact control systems are now old, with replacement parts impossible to find, and staff with the knowledge to operate or fix them having retired.

As the fleet ages, regulatory inspections become much more detailed and stringent, meaning the ships could be out of service for longer periods of time, the report said.

“On top of being very expensive and uneconomical, at worst, the regulator may prevent the ships being used for operations.”

The picture this all paints is a fleet of passenger and freight ferries sailing on borrowed time.

The report, now three years old, warns of things coming to a head in the ‘mid-2020′s’. Midway through 2024 we find ourselves facing a potentially inoperable Interislander ferry service, with no replacement plan.

When established in February, the Ministerial Advisory Group was intended to be in place until “at least June”.

Time is ticking for the Government to find a better solution to future-proof Cook Strait travel.