Ferry Holdings Ltd Chairperson Chris Mackenzie on the ferry announcement

Ferry Holdings Ltd Chairperson Chris Mackenzie joined Nick Mills to discuss the new ferry designs and cost, revealed yesterday by Winston Peters. 

They talked about the changes, the process to get to this decision and the future of the Cook Strait ferries and wharf.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Be We're lucky enough to be able to speak to
Chris McKenzie, who's Ferry Holdings Limited chairperson.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning, Chris, good morning. Tell me how are you
feeling right now?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Once we've all settled down, You've done all the press,
you've had a good night's sleep, and you're looking at it.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
What could you have done better? What are you thinking?

Speaker 4 (00:33):
Well, I'll start off by saying that I'm proud of
the staff that have pulled this together. So I haven't
done this. I'm just a chair. I'm also very thankful
for the cooperation we've had from both Pickton and Wellington
Ports and with q Rail. I think if we look

(00:54):
forward now, we have two vessels that are now contracted
in The final signing will be done in China next Thursday.
From there, women move on to the infrastructure needed in
Picton and in Wellington. We have that fairly well sorted.

(01:16):
There are discussions going on now with both ports on
finalizing costs. We have a ballpark number on that. The
board has been very firm with send the chief executive
of Ferry Holdings, and the staff that the Board is

(01:37):
not going to go beyond the amount of money that
the Crown and Cabinet appropriated for this project, and we
will also be working very carefully with the shipyard on
the construction of the vessel, including the security concerns that
a number of people have raised over the last couple

(01:58):
of weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Chris, one of our Carters columns, said that part of
this pre spend can be reused in the structure cost.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Is he right?

Speaker 4 (02:08):
Yes, we are using more than eighty five million dollars
and there is no say eighty five million dollars of
that seven hundred and forty seven the IREX cost is
that impicton. We're using the existing passenger departure lounge, We're
using the Colvit update that was required for the new

(02:28):
railway yard, We're using the Radiard improvements, and the road
and infrastructure around the vehicle assembly area all impact them.
And when we're building the Dublin Street over bridge, a
lot of the pre work required for that bridge we
will just pick up in use, so we don't have

(02:49):
those costs that are wasted under the ires in Wellington,
all of the rail yard and the vehicle marsketing yards
and so forth that we're put in place for ires
we are able to use. And then above that eighty
five million, some of the reuse includings includes some of

(03:12):
the design elements within the vessel itself. So it's correct
to say that, yes, we are using at least eighty
five million dollars of what was previously spend as part
of IRAQ.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Chris, Chris, what compromise did you have to make for costs?

Speaker 4 (03:31):
We didn't make compromise. What we did was there was
a decision made by ministers, and you may recall it.
Originally we were talking about Rowpax and then it became
a rail ferry. Very little change required between rail and rowpacks.
The two vessels that we are buying can actually be

(03:53):
used as rowpacks vessels as well, because they've been designed
with ramps internally, which means that if there's no trains,
you can load the bottom deck and they can go
up above where One of the failings, if you like
or not failings, but one of the design features of
the Ratari which forced its withdrawal was that if we

(04:17):
kept it in service, you would only be able to
use the bottom deck because there was no way of
getting vehicles from the vehicle deck on left deck three
up to the decks above that, and so that is
straight un economic. Chris A hues will be designed with
those ramps.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
I'm sorry to interrupt.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
I'm just concerned that on the timing situation, and our
fairies are old and we've had we've had issues. Let's
be really honest, we've had issues. Imagine if one of
them have a serious issue, now will be left with
one fairy. We know in the same day that you're
announcing your great announcement, you know your opposition is putting

(05:00):
it on the market. I mean, we're a tiny bit vulnerable,
aren't we.

Speaker 4 (05:08):
Look, I have to say that Into Ireland at the
moment has been running at one hundred percent. And look,
both companies, all four vessels are not past they're used
by date, but they're getting close to it with better maintenance,

(05:29):
which Inter Island there is now doing by having more
rest days and so forth. We are confident, as we're
the shipbrokers who came and looked at the fairies, they
are confident that they can be worked through to twenty
twenty nine, except, of course, you can never say that

(05:51):
something you know messive won't happen to them, has happened
to the Kia or a couple of years ago when
it's gearbox gave up. But at the moment, we are
confident that all four fairies that's too Bluebridge and two
Winter Islander will continue to serve the straight until twenty

(06:13):
twenty nine.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Chris, I want to finish by asking you whether we
got a Corolla or a Ferrari or something in between.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
A b YU let's go.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
What I have said to my costumes on a couple
of occasions is we've got to hold in commodore, a good, solid,
go anywhere type vessel, plenty of power. It won't have
bench seat, of course, but so it's not a Corolla.
It certainly isn't a Coroller, and it certainly isn't a

(06:44):
BMW Okay, it's a vessel.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
I'm worried about your analogy of a Commodore, and they haven't
made them for about twenty years.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
But I get what you're saying, and.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
I saw plenty of them on the road day.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah there is.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
There's still two old fairies in the harbor as well,
but we're looking for you.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Chris.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Thank you very much for the job that you've done.
Thank you very much for coming on the show. We
look forward with baited Bread. We hope that the twenty
twenty nine we've got these two new fairies and are
fantastic and the old girls still keep going. Chris McKenzie
Fairy holdings tu person Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
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