56363 (2025). Tangi Utikere to the Minister for Rail

Written Question

Published date: 17 Dec 2025

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	56363 (2025)
Question asked:	03 Dec 2025
Member asking:	Tangi Utikere
Portfolio:	Minister for Rail
Minister replying:	Rt Hon Winston Peters
Answer received:	11 Dec 2025
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_56363_2025
Document guid:	6e0b8b5c-3d24-4bed-b827-c617238a5834

56363 (2025). Tangi Utikere to the Minister for Rail: What engineering or operational modelling has been undertaken on the impact of the new ferries’ size and manoeuvrability on berth design, harbour movements, and channel congestion at Wellington and Picton, if any?

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Treasury commissioned preliminary marine simulations to model manoeuvring and berthing ships in Wellington and Picton to validate initial design parameters and manoeuvrability specifications of the ships. As a result of this work Ferry Holdings Limited set the design requirements of the new ships to be highly manoeuvrable, which included the specification for an azimuth thrusters propulsion system.