Ferry replacement histeria unjustified?

[Crash]

https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/

While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.

Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.

There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

[David Goodwin]

Post by Crash
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.
Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.
There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

"get on with both of them now" is exactly what the iRex project was. It
was replacing the existing ferries and upgrading port facilities.

If both jobs are being done at around the same time then it makes sense
to design the port to suit whatever ferry design best meets current and
future needs, rather than constraining ferry design to a 1960s port that
will soon be irrlelevant.

So the only thing that would make the cancellation of the iRex project a
good decision is if one of those two projects simply didn't need to be
done for another few decades.

[Tony]

Post by David Goodwin

Post by Crash
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.
Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.
There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

"get on with both of them now" is exactly what the iRex project was. It
was replacing the existing ferries and upgrading port facilities.
If both jobs are being done at around the same time then it makes sense
to design the port to suit whatever ferry design best meets current and
future needs, rather than constraining ferry design to a 1960s port that
will soon be irrlelevant.
So the only thing that would make the cancellation of the iRex project a
good decision is if one of those two projects simply didn't need to be
done for another few decades.

Other than, of course, the project was heading to $3B overrun. That was the
reason for cancellation and still makes sense.

[Rich80105]

On Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:22:52 -0000 (UTC), Tony

Post by Tony

Post by David Goodwin

Post by Crash
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.
Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.
There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

"get on with both of them now" is exactly what the iRex project was. It
was replacing the existing ferries and upgrading port facilities.
If both jobs are being done at around the same time then it makes sense
to design the port to suit whatever ferry design best meets current and
future needs, rather than constraining ferry design to a 1960s port that
will soon be irrlelevant.
So the only thing that would make the cancellation of the iRex project a
good decision is if one of those two projects simply didn't need to be
done for another few decades.

Other than, of course, the project was heading to $3B overrun. That was the
reason for cancellation and still makes sense.

there were two projects - the port upgrades for earthquakes and local
safety and for more modern ships was (as such projects usually do)
going above initial estimates as inflation affected various
components, and I suspect also as local areas tried to get other
improvements included - some was roading for example. But the
government cancelled the ships that will now cost significantly more
to purchase, and while the current ships are nearing end of life. Did
the government cancel the wrong project?

[Tony]

Post by Rich80105
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:22:52 -0000 (UTC), Tony

Post by Tony

Post by David Goodwin

Post by Crash
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.
Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.
There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

"get on with both of them now" is exactly what the iRex project was. It
was replacing the existing ferries and upgrading port facilities.
If both jobs are being done at around the same time then it makes sense
to design the port to suit whatever ferry design best meets current and
future needs, rather than constraining ferry design to a 1960s port that
will soon be irrlelevant.
So the only thing that would make the cancellation of the iRex project a
good decision is if one of those two projects simply didn't need to be
done for another few decades.

Other than, of course, the project was heading to $3B overrun. That was the
reason for cancellation and still makes sense.

there were two projects - the port upgrades for earthquakes and local
safety and for more modern ships was (as such projects usually do)
going above initial estimates as inflation affected various
components, and I suspect also as local areas tried to get other
improvements included - some was roading for example. But the
government cancelled the ships that will now cost significantly more
to purchase, and while the current ships are nearing end of life. Did
the government cancel the wrong project?

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government and were
destined to overspend by $3B. That is all, and more than sufficient to justify
cancellation of both pending the promised reveiw - that is what prudent people
do and on this occasion actually did.

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government ...

Are we still in blame-the-previous-Government mode? Hasn’t the current
Government been able to take responsibility for its own actions (or lack
of them) yet?

[Tony]

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government ...

Are we still in blame-the-previous-Government mode? Hasn’t the current
Government been able to take responsibility for its own actions (or lack
of them) yet?

"We" are in the business of truth, what business are you in?

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

Post by Lawrence D'Oliveiro

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government ...

Are we still in blame-the-previous-Government mode? Hasn’t the current
Government been able to take responsibility for its own actions (or
lack of them) yet?

"We" are in the business of [bullshit dissembling]

You realize that NatActIrst is already one-quarter of the way through its
term? When do you think they are going to exit blame mode and actually
knuckle down on all these problems they promised to solve?

[Tony]

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government ...

Are we still in blame-the-previous-Government mode? Hasn’t the current
Government been able to take responsibility for its own actions (or
lack of them) yet?

"We" are in the business of truth.

You realize (sic) that NatActIrst (sic) is already one-quarter of the way
through its
term? When do you think they are going to exit blame mode and actually
knuckle down on all these problems they promised to solve?

Irrelevant nonsense.
They are doing what you mention as fast as is possible.
The last government did more damage in 3 years than has ever been done by our
own governments in any two decades - Ever!
Of course this government has a masive job of recovery from Labour's massive
incompetence and deliberate destruction of this country and our democracy.

[Crash]

On Thu, 1 Aug 2024 01:46:32 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D'Oliveiro

The two projects were deliberately linked by the last government ...

Are we still in blame-the-previous-Government mode? Hasn’t the current
Government been able to take responsibility for its own actions (or lack
of them) yet?

The current Government did take responsibility and cancelled the iRex
project. We are still less than a year into a new Government fixing
up 3 year of Labour-led government followed by 3 years of Labour
government.

[Crash]

On Wed, 31 Jul 2024 14:35:09 +1200, David Goodwin

Post by David Goodwin

Post by Crash
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/interislander-ferries-in-better-condition-than-expected-report-finds/
While the Union has some concerns - about disaster rescue planning,
not ferry replacement - it looks like the cancellation of the iRex
project was a good decision.
Kiwirail should never have tied the ordering of replacement ferries to
the upgrade of port facilities.
There are two separate issues here - replacing existing ferries and
upgrading port facilities. Just get on with both of them now.

"get on with both of them now" is exactly what the iRex project was. It
was replacing the existing ferries and upgrading port facilities.
If both jobs are being done at around the same time then it makes sense
to design the port to suit whatever ferry design best meets current and
future needs, rather than constraining ferry design to a 1960s port that
will soon be irrlelevant.

They do not need to be done at the same time, though both are
required. It may well be a good decision to build some level of
future-proofing into Port upgrades, but it was never a good idea to
order new ferries that could not be berthed at existing Ports. If the
optimal new ferry cannot be berthed at existing ports extend the ports
first, then order the new ferries when completion of port extensions
is a contracted certainty.

Post by David Goodwin
So the only thing that would make the cancellation of the iRex project a
good decision is if one of those two projects simply didn't need to be
done for another few decades.

iRex was cancelled because the price had increased from $750 million
to $3billion and the new ferries ordered but the port upgrades needed
to berth them were still being planned. It seems that sanity will
prevail.