When trouble strikes, radio operators are listening

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Cast high and dry on a reef off the coast of Papua New Guinea, Australian yachties Jim Murchison and Jeff Thomas sent out a distress call in the black of night.

They had been competing in the Melbourne to Osaka race when disaster struck.

The Sydney sailors' yacht, Mad Max, had been holed and was taking water off Rossell Island on the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea.

Down in New Zealand, it was just after 5am at the Maritime Operations Centre, the radio hub keeping a listening watch over the Pacific and beyond 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A weak and broken signal crackled over one of the centre's high-frequency channels and the three staff on duty swung into action.

Unsure of what the distress call said, they listened to the tape and heard the men's cry for help.

The New Zealand radio operators scrambled to make contact with Mad Max and raise the alarm at Australian Search and Rescue.

Through the New Zealanders' efforts, the rescue operation was triggered.

The pair were eventually plucked to safety by a helicopter from an ice-breaker returning to Japan from the Antarctic.

The drama on March 31 was just another mission accomplished by the staff at the Lower Hutt centre, described as the guardian angels of the high seas.

Last year, the 19 radio operators manning the safety channels dealt with about 800 incidents in New Zealand and international waters.

On good nights and in good conditions, they can pick up emergency calls thousands of kilometres away.

"We've heard calls in the Gulf of Oman from people being attacked by pirates," said senior operator Dave Wilson.

If the distress call is within New Zealand's area of responsibility - which covers 12.5 per cent of the earth's ocean surface, extending from mid-Tasman to mid-Pacific and from Antarctica to the equator - the operators alert the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

Otherwise, they pass it on to the appropriate country's rescue body.

The radio operators are stationed in Lower Hutt at the Avalon studios, working for Broadcast Communications, the Government-owned company which runs the service on behalf of the Maritime Safety Authority.

As well as the long-range, high-frequency channels, the centre also covers the country's network of VHF channels, including Auckland Maritime Radio.

Coastguard radio and private operators also monitor channels.

Mr Wilson said almost 100 per cent of the coastline was covered by VHF now.

Blackspots along the Wairarapa coast had been recently fixed.

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron assistant general manager Harold Bennett said the operators were like guardian angels.

"Once you leave the sight of land, they are the only contact you have," Mr Bennett said.

"It's one of the services that you need to have that you hope you never have to use."

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine