Cruise News - Maritime News

KiwiRail is planning to order two large, rail-fitted ro-pax ferries as replacements for its ageing Interislander fleet on the Cook Strait, writes David Tinsley.

The new generation for the Wellington/Picton route linking New Zealand’s North and South Islands will have greater capacity for passengers, road and rail freight than the existing three ships combined. Design and development has been placed with naval architecture firm OSK-ShipTech of Denmark, while Paris-based shipbroker BRS Group has been appointed to assist with the international procurement process.

The target is to have the new ships ready for service in 2024. State-owned KiwiRail is attaching high priority in the design and technical specification of the vessels to ensuring high levels of reliability and to achieving the most rapid turnaround times during peak periods. Seakeeping properties must be of the highest calibre, since the Cook Strait is prone to rough water, heavy swells and very strong winds, ranking as one of the most unpredictable stretches of water in terms of weather conditions.

The ferry service constitutes a vital element of the country’s transport infrastructure, in effect forming an extension of State Highway 1 and the Main Trunk Line connecting road and rail networks between North and South Islands.

The envisaged newbuild tonnage should meet the company’s requirements well into the future, up to 2050 at least, against the backcloth of growing passenger patronage and rising freight volume. New Zealand’s bid to shift more traffic from road to rail, mainly in the interests of reduced carbon emissions, has coloured the planned mixed payload capability of the newbuilds. Only one of the three existing ferries can take rail wagons, the two other ships being pure ro-pax vessels.

It is understood that consideration is being given to a design providing for about 40 rail wagons within a ro-ro laneage of up to 3,000 metres, and capacity for 1,800 passengers

The oldest of the three present Interislanders, the 22,400gt Kaitaki, was built by Van der Giessen-de Noord in the Netherlands 24 years ago as the Isle of Innisfree, for Irish Sea service, and entered KiwiRail’s operation under charter in 2007, before being purchased in 2017. She can carry 1,350 passengers and has a ro-ro capacity of 1,780 lane-metres.

The two other ships date from 1998. The 17,800gt, diesel-electric Aratere was constructed by the Barreras yard in northwest Spain and purpose-designed for the route, with main deck provision for 32 rail wagons or 425 lane-metres of road vehicles, plus 580 lane-metres for trucks on the upper vehicle deck, and a passenger complement of 600. The 22,150gt Kaiarahi is long term-chartered from Stena RoRo and caters for 550 passengers and ro-ro permutations of about 525 cars/108 semi-trailers/65 trucks. She started life as the Dawn Merchant on the Irish Sea, delivered by the former Astilleros Espanoles (AESA) shipbuilding organisation of Spain.

The three vessels currently transport a total of nearly 800,000 passengers and 250,000 cars per annum between the capital Wellington, on North Island, and the South Island port of Picton.

The newbuild scheme, known as the Inter-Island Resilient Connection Project(iReX), will also see port facilities and infrastructure upgraded to align with the design and capacity of the new ferries.

OSK-ShipTech has a substantial track record in the ferry domain, and work recently attracted by the Danish consultancy has included the concept design for the two ro-pax vessels ordered in September by P&O Ferries from China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International.

SOURCE: The Motorship