On October 14, New Zealand’s Minister for Railways Winston Peters confirmed that the New Zealand government has awarded the order to build two large ferries to Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited (GSI), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC).
According to a press release from the New Zealand government, these two rail-road ferries are 200 meters long, each capable of carrying approximately 1,500 passengers and 40 railway carriages. They are expected to be delivered in 2029 and will be used to connect New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Peters confirmed that the new ferries will be built by GSI, but the specific cost has not yet been finalized and is still under negotiation.
New Zealand’s The Post website reported on the 14th that the iRex project, led by the former Labour government, was originally planned to be undertaken by South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. However, due to severe cost overruns for port infrastructure, the new government canceled the project in December 2023 after taking office.
It is reported that the iRex project began in 2018, aiming to replace the aging existing ferries that have been in service for many years between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. The project originally planned to procure two large ferries and renovate the port facilities in Wellington and Picton to accommodate the new vessels.
During the construction period, the project cost soared from NZ$775 million per ship in 2018 (approximately RMB 3.15 billion) to NZ$1.45 billion in 2021. In 2023, New Zealand’s Treasury warned that the project budget could potentially rise further to nearly NZ$4 billion.
After the new government took office, it refused to provide additional funding and canceled the order with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. In August this year, New Zealand’s state-owned railway company KiwiRail reached a settlement with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, paying the South Korean company NZ$144 million as a settlement for the project cancellation.
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