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TRANSPORT
Interislander — New Cook Strait Ferries
KiwiRail / Interislander · Wellington
Replacement of Interislander's aging Cook Strait ferry fleet and associated Wellington and Picton port infrastructure. Previous $3.1B contract cancelled by National in 2023 ($551M cancellation fee paid). New procurement underway with different scope and approach.
C
52/100 · Uncertain
Completion Probability — likelihood this proceeds on roughly its stated timeline.
Funding statusweight 30%
Delivery stageweight 25%
Election / policy riskweight 20%
Govt priority alignmentweight 12%
Project scaleweight 8%
Delivery agencyweight 5%
Key facts
- Region
- Wellington
- Sector
- Transport
- Status
- Planning
- Estimated value
- $3.1b
- Indicative completion
- 2029
- Funding status
- Part Funded
- Lead organisation
- KiwiRail / Interislander
- Election risk
- High
Election risk assessment
National cancelled the previous ferry+port contract ($551M cancellation fee) and is procuring differently. Still highly uncertain.
Government priority alignment
MEDIUM — Critical Cook Strait link; the previous contract was cancelled and rescoped — aligns with the GPS value-for-money priority.
Chronology
- 2018Interislander fleet identified as aging — replacement required by late 2020s
- 2021Procurement process begins. Hyundai Rotem (South Korea) shortlisted
- 2022$2.7B contract signed with Hyundai Rotem for two new rail-enabled ferries and port upgrades
- 2023National reviews contract. Cancels Hyundai Rotem contract in December 2023 — $551M cancellation fee paid
- 2024New procurement begins with reduced scope. Smaller vessels, different port arrangement
- 2027New ferries ordered; delivery expected 2029
- 2029Target for new Cook Strait ferries entering service