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Clifford Bay, not Picton, makes the most sense for ferry investment

Thursday, 5 March 2026

A Bluebridge ferry berthed in Picton; Stephen Grice argues that the South Island town will struggle to cope with planned new bigger Interislander ferries, and Clifford Bay on Marlborough’s east coast is a superior location for a future ferry port.
A Bluebridge ferry berthed in Picton; Stephen Grice argues that the South Island town will struggle to cope with planned new bigger Interislander ferries, and Clifford Bay on Marlborough’s east coast is a superior location for a future ferry port.

Stephen Grice is the managing director for Clifford Bay Port Limited, the company proposing NSX – the North South Express.

OPINION: The old adage “time is money” seems to be closely associated with transport.

In North Canterbury, the Government is starting to spend roughly a billion dollars on the Woodend bypass to shave three minutes off journey times on average; and up to 10 to 11 minutes during peak and holiday periods. More than 21,000 vehicles travel this section of state highway each day. The Government is considering a toll to pay some of the cost.

A bit further up SH1, we have to consider where to spend $900 million for the South Island ferry link. And who pays.

The Port of Marlborough at Picton, has just locked its prices with the New York-owned, private sector Bluebridge ferries for the next 39 years. So, the port company will need you to pay through your taxes to patch its port to a minimal use standard. It has not finalised that price but it’s $500m plus – more likely maybe a billion.

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Clifford Bay in Marlborough, which Stephen Grice is promoting as the ideal location for a new South Island Cook Strait ferry link.
Clifford Bay in Marlborough, which Stephen Grice is promoting as the ideal location for a new South Island Cook Strait ferry link.

The alternative is a new terminal at Clifford Bay. That would save 150 minutes per journey, because ferries can move faster by utilising the shorter, two-hour run to Clifford Bay. Freight operators can move goods faster, because Clifford Bay is 50 minutes closer by road to Christchurch.

The same ships can perform more crossings every 24 hours so can move more people and cars each day. The fastest point-to-point connection between the islands will always be the superior option.

A ferry chugs along at top speed of perhaps 40kph, while a truck on the open road moves at twice that speed. To get goods and families from Christchurch efficiently, the goal should be to minimise the time spent at sea and maximise the time spent on the open road.

There is ample greenfields land at Clifford Bay, so we won’t be keeping residents awake at night as the modern logistic hub works 24 hours a day. Designed to optimise movement with technology enabled marshalling and purpose-built infrastructure, people will be out on the road faster.

Those efficiency gains make it financially investable for the private sector.

Stephen Grice argues that Picton will become congested trying to accommodate the freight and passenger demands that will accompany future, bigger ferries.
Stephen Grice argues that Picton will become congested trying to accommodate the freight and passenger demands that will accompany future, bigger ferries.

But when you start talking about the inter- island ferries, very soon after the conversation starts, someone says, why not Lyttelton?

History shows travellers value speed and efficiency. The Ministry of Transport ended the loss-making Lyttelton service in 1976 because Picton was the optimal solution in the 1960s. But time and technology have further evolved.

A sailing to Lyttelton means a vessel at sea for many hours. In the time taken for one ship to slowly makes its way down the coast to Christchurch, that same vessel could have completed multiple return trips across a shorter strait crossing. That’s what killed the old service. And that was before the modern road down the Kaikoura coast and the modern vehicles of today.

The sheer scale of the new ships will make unloading and shuffling vehicles harder, with the existing infrastructure. A “minimum viable use” approach will mean there won’t be any more room in Picton for the 50%-plus bigger loads the new ships carry.

As well, Picton would face having to cope with the influx of travellers arriving for the next sailing waiting to get on. The planners are working on how to manage that congestion through the narrow streets and out the pass. You won’t pay their toll in cash - just in time.

Clifford Bay effectively supercharges the two rail-enabled ferries for Cook Strait, due for delivery in 2029.

You can see the logic this way - if the two new ferries left Wellington at the same time, the one that went to Clifford Bay would have unloaded, reloaded and be entering the Wellington Heads about when the one that went to Picton finishes unloading its first journey. The Picton bypass equals about 50 Woodend bypasses when it comes to getting from Christchurch to Wellington and beyond.

And that will bring economic growth to the South Island with the strong connection to the global economy. That means the money and the time need to be spent at Clifford Bay.