Mark Thompson: Former Chair of the Ferry Ministerial Advisory Group on the new ferry deal and its timeline

There's a view that the ferry deal timeline is optimistic.  

Rail Minister Winston Peters has announced two road and rail-enabled ferries and upgrades to port infrastructure will be rolled out late in 2029.  

Former Chair of the Ferry Ministerial Advisory Group Mark Thompson told Mike Hosking that will be a challenge with current conditions.  

He says there's an influx of orders for ship builder, which could jeopardise the timeline. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we got another piece of sorts on the next
stage of our long and winding Fairry journey. Companies tender
on a slightly bigger ship than the current ones. They're
rail and able, they don't need new wharves, and they're
cheaper than ires now. The former chair of the Ferry
Ministerial Advisory Group, Mark Thompson's, well, this's Mark, very good
morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
As I understand that you got involved in all of
this back in twenty fifteen. Do we need to be here?
Has this taken way longer than it ever needed to?
Is this a bit of a shambles?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Well, I don't think anyone could argue that it should
have happened faster, But I guess you know that's all
history now and we can't change that. I guess that
the key now is making sure that whatever we agree
right now actually happens, and happens as as quickly and
efficiently as possible.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Did you get anything from Peters yesterday that you couldn't
have got from Willis last year?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I mean, the problem to be solved hasn't changed. It
hasn't changed since twenty sixteen. I guess the current fleet
is a mix of rail and what they call ropeck ships.
You've got aging infrastructure, so nothing's changed in terms of
what's required. But I guess it's the challenges when you've

(01:17):
got a mix of rail and roads. There's no silver bullet.
You know, you've got to overpick one or the other.
In Winston's pick rail, which is fine. So they just
got to get on with it.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Do you worry? I mean, did you do enough work
to work out if you announced what he announced yesterday,
put the tenders out, can they build winter tender and
deliver by twenty nine and five years? Four years? In
other words, I.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Think I think that's a challenge. We know that from
our work in the shipyards in Europe last year that
there's a lot of activity up there, and there's currently
changes in regulations around fuel and everything that current ferry

(02:03):
operators in Europe been sitting on their hands waiting for
some sort of steer on future fuel requirements. So there
is a possibility there will be an influx of orders
that could could compromise the timeline that the Winston's talking about.
But it's tight. You know, four years from go to

(02:24):
woe everything will have to you know, you'll have to
have just spinnaker up and have a calm sea.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Is those future proofing or a patch up? What are
he announced?

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, if you believe that rail is required on the
cook's trade, this gives a solution. But they've got to
make sure because freight is constant and passengers a seasonal,
you've got to make sure that the ship can configuration
can meet both demands. It's not just one market, it's
it's several markets. And therefore the the Herataria and the

(03:01):
Hero used to be able to do three sailings a
day and they've got to make sure that the new
ships can do that to meet the seasonal demand. Otherwise
you're going to really need three ships.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Which we don't have. Obviously, make appreciate your insight. Mark Thompson,
former Chair of the Ferry Ministerial Advisory Group. Something tells
me we'll be talking about fairies for a few million
years yet. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
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