Peak practice on the water

Auckland Harbour and the inner Hauraki Gulf are under pressure from growth in the three main user groups - recreational, ferries and commercial shipping - and increased traffic is generating spatial conflicts and safety issues during peak times.

The responsibility for managing the harbour falls to one man, John Lee-Richards. As Auckland Regional Council's Harbourmaster and Regional On-Scene Commander, Lee-Richards is responsible for navigation, safety and pollution response throughout the Auckland region.

He has been in the job 13 months and during that time he has assembled virtually a complete new team in the harbour master's office.

Before taking up Auckland's top maritime position, Lee-Richards worked for the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) in senior roles associated with marine environment protection. Before that he was Deputy Harbourmaster and Regional On-scene commander for Northland Regional Council, and held senior roles in port companies and harbour boards. He began his nautical career as a navigating cadet with the now-defunct Union Steam Ship Company.

He is a qualified Foreign Going Master, a recreational yachtsman and a pragmatic individual with balanced views that acknowledge the three user groups. Working within statutory requirements, he aims to reach a compromise that will allow them to share the harbour safely.

"Auckland Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf are fantastic marine playgrounds but everyone must use them with consideration and safety," he says.

One of the documents that will influence his approach is the Ports and Harbour Safety Code, implemented by the MSA last year. It was developed as a result of the Jody F Millennium going ashore at Gisborne, the Tai Ping stranding on rocks at Bluff and two tankers touching the bottom as they entered Whangarei Harbour.

The code requires Lee-Richards' team to complete an operational risk assessment of Auckland and Manukau harbours, then write and action a management plan that takes into account risks such as those generated by concentrations of commercial and recreational vessels in one area.

The Fast Ferry Lane in the Motuihe Channel and the Precautionary Area under the Auckland Harbour Bridge are examples of the responses required by the Code. They were implemented after a fatal collision highlighted the need to separate ferries (with an orange flashing light) from boats fishing and yachts preparing to start a race en masse.

Lee-Richards considers consultation is part of his brief and the decision to implement these controlled areas was not made unilaterally, but reached after input from various user groups.

To resolve another persistent recreational/commercial clash, he is holding discussions with Auckland yacht clubs about the practice of using channel buoys as turning marks during races. The expectation is that race officers will modify their sailing instructions to alleviate the issue when a ship is leaving or entering port.

"It is very difficult for a pilot commanding a large containership to navigate safely when the channel is congested with yachts converging on the same buoy, or a yacht's skipper crosses the ship's bow so he can round a channel marker without sacrificing a place."

ARC's harbour patrols spend a lot of time shifting fishing boats out of the channel and cable zone. They also patrol key recreational beaches to reduce conflict between powerboats, swimmers and kayakers. Although all inner city beaches have 200m 5-knot buoys, some powerboats, especially jetskis, occasionally ignore them.

The patrols can and do impose fines but the enforcement teams prefer to push education rather than penalties; offenders are often offered the option of attending a Boatmaster course rather than being fined.

Only 800 of the estimated 5000 jetskis in the Auckland and Waikato regions are registered and the ARC has brought its jetski registration programme in-house after initially contracting it out.

The ARC intends to make a big push to complete the registration process this coming summer. Lee-Richards says registration costs are minimal and identification, not revenue, is the goal.

"A one-off fee to cover administration and achieve our on-the-water purpose is being investigated. Under this proposal there would be no further cost until a change of ownership is required."

A number of authorities are waiting to see how the jetski registration scheme pans out. It's possible its existence, and the growing pressure on Auckland Harbour, will re-ignite discussions about a comprehensive all-craft registration system.

"People who can be identified by a numbering system and traced by way of a database tend not to break the law," says Lee-Richards.