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So the knee jerk reaction to cancel the ~$3B project that would have given us new bigger, better ferries and NEW TERMINALS.
To now look at spending ~$1.8B on two smaller ferries, we will still need to upgrade the ports.
Great move, cancel an existing contract for two ferries at $551M each, to now look to spend $900M each on two less capable boats.
Idiots.
Yeah, back of napkin maths from the rumours of everything.
iRex: 550m on Ferries, initial total project cost from 750m -> 3.1b due to port-side infrastructure upgrade costs ballooning for future resilience (seismic mostly IIRC).
Nicky NoBoats: 300m rumoured cost of cancelling, 900m rumoured cost of two new, smaller, ferries that won't arrive until 2029 at the earliest given that there's still no contract. Plus as-yet uncosted port-side upgrades still required which Nicky is trying to lump on Wellington & Marlborough's councils. Plus increased freight costs double handling containers and reduced capacity from smaller boats. Plus increased emissions unless somehow they can get the hybrid upgrades iRex was capable of. Plus increased emissions due to smaller boats needing to run more frequent sailings to meet demand.
The overall cost is still going to end up around 3b once someone pays for the port-side work which is where the bulk of the costs were growing and once the hit to our emissions targets is accounted for. The current infrastructure is outdated, is not resilient and needs to be upgraded whether its a smaller boat, or the bigger iRex.
My gut reaction at the time was that the cancellation was done as a political move - designed to crap on something from the previous government and send a signal that Nactional Fist were about cutting cost. But a rushed decision is going to end up costing all of us in the long run.