Over summer the Operation Neptune team helped respond to a number of incidents with other agencies such as Coastguard and the police, including a number of bar crossing incidents. Photo / Supplied
Over summer the Operation Neptune team helped respond to a number of incidents with other agencies such as Coastguard and the police, including a number of bar crossing incidents. Photo / Supplied
Waikato's regional harbourmaster has raised concerns that New Zealand has no national requirements for skipper licensing or vessel registration, as is in place with drivers and motor vehicles on our roads.
An estimated 160,000 people take part in recreational boating in the region each year.
Harbourmaster Chris Bredenbeck said: "The number has been growing year on year and here in the Waikato we now have some of the most congested waterways in New Zealand.
"Many of our visiting boaties come from Auckland, where the maritime rules may be different to what we have here.
"We also believe that Covid travel restrictions have led to more Kiwis purchasing various new watercraft, with many new skippers being inexperienced on the water."
Bredenbeck said this summer his maritime safety team conducted its biggest and most challenging operation to date, running for three weeks from Boxing Day through to January 16 with an additional 12 staff covering recreational boating activity in the region.
Regional Harbourmaster Chris Bredenbeck is concerned there are no national requirements for skipper licensing or vessel registration. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
The team interacted with just over 1000 vessels on the water, carrying about 2700 people.
"The increased numbers of people out on our waters causes us all sorts of challenges," Bredenbeck said.
Challenges include a lack of consistency of rules nationally, such as the wearing of lifejackets, and no national requirements for skipper licensing and training or vessel registration.
Bredenbeck raised his concerns in his overview of the summer Operation Neptune given last week to the Waikato Regional Council's Environmental Performance Committee.
The Waikato region has 1138km of coastline, including several busy harbours, 415km of rivers and seven hydro lakes, offering a number of popular holiday hotspots that are easily accessible by a wide range of water users. Lake Taupō is managed by the Department of Internal Affairs.
"There are no national requirements for skipper licensing or vessel registration. Essentially, a person can purchase and operate a vessel with no knowledge of maritime regulations or the rules of the sea," Bredenbeck said.
Waikato Regional Harbourmaster Chris Bredenbeck. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
Operation Neptune, which has been running for five years, is the summer on-water education and compliance programme run by the council's Maritime Safety team which has the mandate for navigation safety in the region.
The focus of the programme is on increasing a patrol presence on the water in key recreational boating areas, over the peak summer boating period, to maintain compliance with the region's navigation safety bylaw and reduce the risk of harm on the water.
Bredenbeck said having more boats on the water meant incidents were more likely occur.
Over the summer, the team helped respond to a number of incidents with other agencies such as Coastguard and the police, including a number of bar crossing incidents (Raglan, Tairua, Whangamatā and Matarangi).
"As a result of the strong and unusual currents seen after the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga H'apai in January, many of our channel markers in the Whitianga and Tairua/Pauanui harbours shifted considerably and had to be reset," Bredenbeck said.
"We also manage hazards on the water. A good example of this was removing a huge log floating in the Whitianga harbour channel. That could have done some real damage to a vessel if struck at speed."
Bredenbeck said having an increased number of people out on the waters also created logistical challenges.
"We're a small team covering a large region with many busy waterways, and we can't be everywhere at once."
Waikato Regional Council maritime officers had to reposition channel markers in the Whitianga and Tairua/Pauanui harbours moved by unusual currents after the Tonga volcano eruption. Photo / Supplied
Committee chairwoman Kathy White acknowledged the work of the team to make freshwater and marine areas in the Waikato region safe for water users.
"Maritime New Zealand data estimates 160,000 people are involved in recreational boating in our region every year, with many of them travelling from outside the Waikato.
"The job of helping to protect everybody from boaties to jet skiers, kayakers to waka ama paddlers, and other users of Waikato's waterway is a big one that this council takes seriously," White said.
