Category: iRex

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Posted on

New Zealanders want publicly-owned rail ferries!

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

New polling released on 15 October by the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) shows the public wants publicly owned, rail enabled ferries.

The poll was conducted by Talbot Mills over the period of 2-14 October and asked:

New ferry options

As you may be aware, in relation to the Cook Strait ferries, “rail-enabled” means freight carriages can roll onto and off of the ferry directly rather than requiring unloading and reloading onto trucks as additional handling steps on each side of Cook Strait. The efficiency gains of being “rail enabled” is thought to add 10-20% to the overall cost to the ferries/infrastructure. The government is now considering three possible options for new ferries. Which of the following options is closest to the one you would support? 

Results showed a clear public preference:

Maritime Union spokesperson Victor Billot says “This shows that New Zealanders can see the terrible mistake the Minister has made in cancelling the new rail ferries and that is only going to get more obvious as the massive costs of this fiasco, like the cancellation fee of up to a half a billion dollars, come to light.

“Rail enabled and publicly owned ferries are vital to New Zealand’s domestic freight. No rail ferries would likely mean no viable rail system, and privatising would be like putting a toll booth on the strait and sending the revenue overseas.

“Unions want rail-enabled ferries, so do logistics companies including Mainfreight, New Zealand First has just said they want them, and now it’s clear the people of New Zealand want them too. The question is why is the Finance Minister so intent on forcing New Zealanders into a bad deal that nobody wants?”

Road-bridging – the practice of taking containers from trains and transporting them onto non-rail ferries adds up to $200 per container cost and takes up to three hours more per sailing. Industry experts have noted this additional cost would price rail out of the north/south freight market.

Posted on

Ferry report does not solve the big problem

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union has sounded a note of caution about the seaworthiness of Interislander ferries.
KiwiRail has today released a summary of a maritime assessment of the three Interislander ferries carried out by DNV, which says the ships are in reasonable condition.
Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says the Union appreciates the efforts being made by KiwiRail, but members on the ferries had real concerns about health and safety.
“Our members crew those ferries, so if something does go wrong they are placed in danger.”
Mr Findlay says the Union is treating the conclusions of the DNV report with caution.
He says keeping the current vessels running until the end of the decade is a stop gap measure at best.
“There have been a number of technical issues with the ferries already, some with potentially very serious outcomes, and the fact remains that there are many ageing systems and components in service on the ferries.”
Mr Findlay says that KiwiRail has been put in an impossible position.
“KiwiRail doesn’t really have any choice but to soldier on with end of life vessels and push up maintenance costs and maintenance time for the ships.”
He says the main problem remains – there is no clear indication yet what the Government has planned in place of the iRex project it dumped last year.
Mr Findlay says the full cost of abandoning the iRex project is yet to be determined and would possibly wipe out any savings on new ferries and terminal infrastructure.
 

Posted on

Cook Strait connection in limbo

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says pressure is mounting on the Government to provide leadership on the Cook Strait ferries.

One year ago, then National Party opposition Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown described the Cook Strait ferries as the “the biggest pothole on State Highway 1” after multiple technical problems with ageing ships.

In August 2023, he then described the current ferries as causing “significant safety concerns.”

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says the future of Cook Strait has now become a “black hole not a pot hole” in our transport network, due to the Government’s demolition of the iRex project.

“Despite his strong criticisms prior to being elected, we have not heard a peep out of Transport Minister Simeon Brown recently about the future of the Cook Strait as a key transport link.”

He says the new Government’s iRex decision in late 2023 has left the future of the interisland ferries in limbo.

Mr Harrison says many industry figures and commentators from across the political spectrum have expressed concerns about the future of the Cook Strait connection and the logic of the Government decision.

He says there is a danger that New Zealand will end up with a cheap, sub-optimal ferry option that will see ongoing disruption and safety issues.

“The long term cost may end up a lot higher.”

Mr Harrison says the Government may still have to walk back its hasty call to can the new ferries and terminals.

KiwiRail will appear before the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday 15 February.

Posted on

Ferry unions demand Finance Minister resign over Cook Strait debacle

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

Four unions representing maritime and rail workers have condemned the Government’s decision to effectively cancel the Cook Strait iRex ferry upgrade project, and are demanding the resignation of the Minister of Finance for the decision.

The four unions are the Maritime Union of New Zealand representing seafarers, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union representing rail workers, the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild representing ship’s masters and officers, and the Aviation and Marine Engineers Association representing marine engineers.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says it is not tenable that such a major decision with massive implications for the economy should be made in such a ‘fast and loose’ manner.

“This is far more than a fiscal decision – this decision shows poor judgement and a total lack of understanding of the importance of a functioning Cook Strait connection to New Zealand’s supply chain.”

He says the ongoing technical issues with Cook Strait ferries are a result of end of life vessels being used on a notoriously challenging crossing and had resulted in serious incidents in the last few years. 

“The can has been kicked down the road for years and the upgrade has to happen now.”

“This Government campaigned on getting our transport infrastructure sorted and their first move is to basically jeopardize the future of road and rail transport between the North and South Island.”

Rail and Maritime Transport Union General Secretary Todd Valster says the ferry upgrade project was an essential part of maintaining a ‘fit for purpose’ national transport system initiated by the previous Labour Government.

He says the new Government’s decision to dump the project was reckless and indicated an agenda to run down key parts of our transport infrastructure.

“The iRex project would deliver fit for purpose, modern vessels and terminals, that would provide reliability, resilience, low emissions and a safe service.”

Mr Valster says the iRex project would deliver a long term solution for the Cook Strait over decades, which justified the cost of the project.

He says the Minister of Finance and the Government had made an irresponsible decision that would cost millions to rectify by breaking contracts with overseas suppliers, and leave the Cook Strait connection with third rate, ageing infrastructure.