StraitNZ

StraitNZ, formerly Strait Shipping and Bluebridge, is a New Zealand transport firm that operates roll-on/roll-off freight and passenger shipping across the Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island, as well as trucking and logistics services across New Zealand.

Originally a freight-only service, passenger services commenced in 2002 and currently operate under the Bluebridge brand. As of 2021, Bluebridge holds 56% of the market for vehicle freight and 31% of the market for passenger services across Cook Strait.

The company was acquired on March 31, 2022 by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

History
The company has its origins in Otorohanga Transport, founded by Jim Barker and Dennis Dow in 1963.

Inter-island ferry operations began in 1992 as Strait Shipping Limited, as a way for Barker to provide more affordable inter-island ferry services for his trucking group. Ferries between the North and South Islands of New Zealand were then monopolised by the Interisland Line, owned by the then state-owned enterprise New Zealand Rail (privatised in 1993 and renamed Tranz Rail in 1995). As of 2022, the two companies still hold a duopoly on interisland ferry services.

As well as operating across the Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton, Strait Shipping has in the past also operated freight shipping between Wellington and Napier, also in the North Island, and Nelson and Lyttelton in the South Island.

Bluebridge was launched as the passenger service brand of Strait Shipping in 2003.

In 2016, Strait Shipping was sold to Australian-based Champ Private Equity Group. At the same time, Champ Group also purchased trucking companies Freight Lines and Streamline Freight, which had both been separately owned by the Barker family. At the time, the trucking and ferry companies owned by the Barker family were estimated to employ around 750 people.

On 29 March 2018 Strait Shipping Limited was renamed StraitNZ, with passenger services continuing to operate under the Bluebridge brand. Sister companies Freight Lines and Streamline were rebranded as "StraitNZ Linehaul" and "StraitNZ Freight Forwarding" respectively. That year, a 25% stake in the company was acquired by Macquarie.

In December 2021, the StraitNZ Group was sold by Champ Private Equity and Macquarie to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, for a reported sale price of NZ$500 million. The acquisition was completed in March 2022.

As of 2021, StraitNZ’s Bluebridge ferry unit was reported to have a 56% market share for Cook Strait vehicle freight, and a 31% market share for passenger services. The remaining share is held by Interislander, a subsidiary of New Zealand Government-owned KiwiRail.

Wellington ferry terminal redevelopment
In 2020, following two years of discussion with stakeholders, Greater Wellington Regional Council announced that it had chosen Kaiwharawhara as its preferred site for a new ferry terminal. The terminal will be built on land owned by KiwiRail, CentrePort and the NZ Transport Agency. Interislander plans to introduce new hybrid electric ferries that are 30 m longer than those currently in operation. The new terminal will be able to accommodate the larger ferries and will replace the two separate terminals currently used by StraitNZ and the Interislander. In addition, CentrePort will be able to make changes to the layout of its other port operations. The plan includes a wharf about 250 m long, a ferry terminal building, changes to road, rail and pedestrian access, and marshalling and loading areas. The panel that approved the project called it the biggest rail capital project since World War 2.

Site preparation began, but the cost of the project increased significantly. In December 2023, the new Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, declined extra funding to KiwiRail for its proposed new ferries and terminal infrastructure, and as of January 2024 the project is stalled while the parties involved consider their options.