The Government is to buy an $8 million ferry from Bangladesh instead of having it built in New Zealand, in a move the marine industry is calling cheap and risky.
The ferry is being commissioned to replace the one that connects the New Zealand territory of Tokelau with Samoa fortnightly. There is no other way to access Tokelau.
The Marine Industry Association says the boat would have cost $14 - $15 million to build here.
MIA director Peter Busfield says the Government did not consider the country's possible economic gain by having it made locally.
Busfield says workers in Bangladesh are paid very little and not enough is known about the boat-building industry there to be sure the work will be up to standard.