Victor Billot: Maritime Union spokesperson on the ballooning costs of maintaining the Interislander ferries

Early Edition on Newstalk ZB

Maintenance on ageing Interislander ferries is seen as a short-term solution by the Maritime Union.

Estimated annual maintenance costs to keep KiwiRail’s three ageing Interislander ferries running could almost double to $65 million by next year, and keeping the ferries afloat will be an “ongoing battle”.

A previous assessment of the fleet’s condition raised concerns about steel corrosion, metal getting weak and cracking, and prohibitive maintenance expenses.

The project to replace the fleet with two mega ferries was left dead in the water in December after overall costs, including new terminals and wharf upgrades, ballooned to almost $3 billion and the new Government refused to fund the blowout.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has previously refused to commit to replacing the fleet by 2026, which is when the now-cancelled mega ferries were due to arrive.

Given the project’s history of delays, budget blowouts, and other problems, Willis said people were “dreaming” if they thought the mega ferries would be up and running with the necessary port development in place by that time.

A Ministerial Advisory Group is looking into new options for the future of the ferry service.

Maritime Union spokesperson Victor Billot told Mike Hosking that ships of this age will have issues, especially on Cook Strait.

He says they are maintaining ferries that are nearing the end of their lives anyway.

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