Decommissioning Of The Aratere Ferry

Following the announcements made by the Minister of Rail on 31 March 2025, Ferry Holdings Limited has initiated discussions with KiwiRail, Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited and CentrePort Limited to understand the infrastructure required to meet the Ministers deadline of 2029 for the new Cook Strait ferries to enter operations.

To deliver this programme of work, Ferry Holdings is engaging with Port Marlborough and CentrePort to agree detailed port infrastructure plans in quarter 4, 2028. As part of this process work is required to decommission and/or demolition of the Aratere berth.

Port Marlborough has advised that the demolition of the Aratere berth is a critical first step to meet the required port infrastructure requirements ahead of the commissioning of the new ferries in 2029.

The removal of this berth will mean that the Aratere ferry will no longer be able to deliver services across the Cook Strait.

The construction of temporary port infrastructure for the Aratere is not part of the Ferry Holdings work programme.

We will continue working closely with both ports to finalise the specifications of the infrastructure required.

The ongoing delivery of Cook Strait ferry services provided by KiwiRail is a commercial decision and they will work to manage this with the demand for freight and passenger services.

Ferry Holdings Limited Background: 

• The Government is committed to safe, reliable and affordable Cook Strait ferry  services. In March 2025, the Minister for Rail announced plans for the  procurement of two new ferries that will serve people, cars, trucks, and rail  across the Cook Strait, as well as straightforward infrastructure in Wellington  and Picton which maximise reuse and minimise cost.  

• In December 2023, the Government cancelled Project iReX which sought to  replace the Interislander ferries and upgrade the infrastructure. The costs for this  Project had grown substantially to $3.1 billion and was forecast to go to $4.0 billion. The Government has established Ferry Holdings to deliver a markedly  cheaper deal for taxpayers by 2029. 

• Ferry Holdings was incorporated in March 2025 to lead from 1 April 2025 the  contractual negotiations with shipyards, ports, and any other party required to  deliver safe, reliable and affordable inter-island asset replacements to serve the  future. 

• Ferry Holdings is responsible for entering commercial shipyard procurement  contracts and port agreements on infrastructure with CentrePort Wellington  Limited (CentrePort Wellington), Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited (Port  Marlborough) and any other party to enable the affordable delivery of ferries to  enter service in 2029. Affordable means markedly cheaper than the cancelled Project iReX.

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