Two-hour North to South Island ferry service? This consortium reckons it can make it happen

Tuesday, 26 August 2025

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A consortium has made a pitch to the Government’s investment agency for a ferry terminal and port at Marlborough’s Clifford Bay that could cut the sailing time between the two islands to less than two hours.

The so-called North South Express would be homed in Clifford Bay, south of Blenheim, and would operate as a multi-use ferry terminal and port.

In an interview with the company behind the bid, CB Port Ltd, director Stephen Grice said the consortium had the capability to design and build the port with private capital, however it needed contracts with potential port customers - hence it was in discussion with government through the public-private partnership process.

“They’ve committed to purchasing ferries, but those ferries can operate out of either potential ports. So then the question becomes which is the best place to put them? And we think, you know, on balance, ours is far superior,” he said.

But Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor, whose council owns Port Marlborough in Picton, said the Clifford Bay pitch was “an academic exercise, and it's a distraction at this point”.

“At the moment, their idea is a bay without a port. It hasn't got roads, it hasn't got accommodation, it hasn't got water or sewage or fuel, all of the associated things that are needed to support a healthy, thriving port, beyond rail infrastructure, beyond wharves, and beyond ferry terminals … it would be a very big ask.”

CB Port has made the public-private partnership pitch after failing to get its proposal picked up by Rail Minister Winston Peters as part of his considerations for the replacement of the ageing Interislander ferries after cancellation of the iRex project.

The consortium, which it says consists of Ngāi Tahu, global construction company Acciona, engineers Arup and OSK design and lawyers MinterEllison, along with CB Port Ltd, are pitching a “world class gateway to the South Island” which would shave off travel times, bring economic benefits to Marlborough and boost productivity in transport and logistics.

Grice, a businessman, is director of CB Port with brother Leon Grice and American-Kiwi businessman Sean Colgan. The three were behind the company Rako Science, which brought a saliva test for Covid-19 to New Zealand during the pandemic.

Their proposed terminal would be designed to accommodate three operators’ vessels, according to its plans. A mock-up of the port appears to include an Interislander in the image.

“It can support fast ferries, which is a mode that used to operate in New Zealand, but no longer does because of speed restrictions in the sensitive marine environment of the Marlborough Sounds,” Grice said.

According to the group, the current Wellington-Picton route is 106km and includes speed limits because of the environment, but the Wellington-Clifford Bay route is 74km and would have no speed restrictions, and be protected from the southern swells which can slow the journey.

Clifford Bay can be reached by the busy State Highway 1, 8km east of a major intersection that takes travellers between Blenheim and through to Kaikōura and Christchurch, and it neighbours a main rail line, carrying two freight trains per day, according to the consortium’s publicity material.

It had submitted a “market led proposal” to NIFFCo, National Infrastructure Funding and Financing, the Government’s agency for private investment for public infrastructure.

NIFFCo partners with the private sector, iwi and local and central government agencies on public-private partnerships.

While Grice would not discuss the cost of building the port, he said it was viable to build it privately.

The financial modelling for this relied on the port having a ferry customer - though Grice would not rule out the consortium running a ferry service - as the port makes money through charging port users.

“If you're going to be able to do any infrastructure project … to make it bankable, you have to have contracts with existing players. And of course, the Government's a large player, and so part of that is to be able to engage in commercial discussions with SOEs.”

Grice said there had been discussions with the two ferry operators, KiwiRail-owned Interislander and privately-owned Bluebridge, however these were not “commercial discussions”.

Grice and CB Port’s infrastructure and economics adviser Tim Hurdle had met with Rail Minister Winston Peters in June this year, at the Port’s instigation, to discuss the proposal and to ask the Government to “reconsider” its earlier decision not to proceed, according to information released under the Official Information Act.

According to Peters’ office, it subsequently wrote to Grice to “reiterate that the only South Island infrastructure being pursued through the Government’s ferry replacement solution was in Port Marlborough, Picton. The Government is not proceeding with Clifford Bay Port Limited’s proposal as part of its ferry replacement programme.”

Peters had been advised to “listen to” Clifford Bay Port’s submission but that ultimately the Government wanted to maximise existing infrastructure in Wellington and Picton, according to documents released to The Post, citing building a new port at Clifford Bay would require “new roads, rail, terminal buildings, yard and marine infrastructure”.

According to the aide memoire, previous studies of Clifford Bay by the Ministry of Transport had said it was not a commercially viable location for a private project. The last study was 2013.

According to a letter from Peters to Stephen Grice, the “Government selected Picton as the site for investment through our ferry replacement programme. This is the only option Ferry Holdings Limited has a mandate to engage in, and as such your request for them to lead a rapid evaluation of Clifford Bay is declined.”

He declined a site visit “so as not to create confusion in the market as to the Government’s priorities”.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chris Bishop were copied in.

Taylor, the Marlborough mayor, said Peters had been “fairly clear” that work was to occur with Port of Marlborough to get maximum benefit from existing infrastructure.

The new infrastructure for the new Interislander ferries in 2029 was “progressing well”, she said, and no-one wanted to see the ferries “arriving without a port”.

“That won't happen in Picton, because the port is there, it is existing.”

She said there were contracts in place between Port of Marlborough and Bluebridge.

“If somebody wants to develop something privately and it adds to the province, well, that's a bonus for the province. But in this case, it doesn't seem to me that's what they're proposing. They they seem to be seeking a ferry company to fit their port.”

Yet Grice said Peters appeared “intrigued and interested” in the Clifford Bay idea at their meeting. He thought Peters wanted the proposal put through the proper government process.

“Rather than one in the hand and one in the bush, I think he wants it to … go through a process which can make it stand alone, and the two can be considered side-by-side.”

NIFFCo declined to comment. A spokesperson said any proposals received under its market-led process were treated as confidential.

Bluebridge and Ngāi Tahu have been asked for comment.

National Government previously vetoed Clifford Bay port

A 415ha site at Clifford Bay previously owned by KiwiRail was sold to Marlborough wine maker Peter Yealands in 2014 after the then National Government decided not to go ahead with shifting the Picton port there.

Yealands himself had once considered creating a “pocket port” for exports and freight, according to reporting at the time.

The year before, then Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said a commercial viability study showed a fully privately funded project was not possible “and the level of investment required at Picton over the next decade to extend its life would be substantially less than previously estimated”.

At the time a ferry terminal at Clifford Bay was said by a project team to be deliverable by 2022 for $525m but would need a Government top up.

At that time, the Government said Picton’s facilities were “not expected to fail or become constrained due to asset age or condition, or growth in freight volumes, over the next 30 years”.

Currently, infrastructure at Picton is being upgraded to accommodate two new rail ferries, due in 2029, including a new wharf and linkspan, as well as upgrades to the terminal and overbridge.

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