Call for safe channel markers on Whanganui River

A lack of safe channel markers in the Whanganui river has the Coastguard advocating for sailors to make sure they understand where to go in the river. Photo / Bevan Conley

There are concerns about the lack of signs marking safe channels in the lower reaches of the Whanganui River, with the Coastguard occasionally having to pull boats off training walls.

Between the Cobham Bridge and the river mouth, there are two half-tide training walls in the river - one on the Gonville side of the river, stretching from the Cobham Bridge to the old Imlay Wharf, and the other on the Putiki side of the river, from the bottom of Corliss Island to Landguard Bluff.

The walls were put in place to help with water flow in the river at low tide, but are submerged at higher tides and not visible to river users.

Coastguard Whanganui president Garry Hawkins said they were concerned about the lack of markers showing where these walls are in the river.

He said the Coastguard had to occasionally pull boats off the walls, but jetski riders were particularly at-risk due to their small size and the speed at which they can travel down the river.

Marine maps that show where the walls are are available online, but he said markers for the walls should be placed in the river as well.

He said there used to be channel markers in the river, but they were plastic attached to a chain which eventually drifted away, never to be replaced.

Hawkins said there was a lack of clarity as to who was responsible for maintaining the markers.

“Realistically, there should be channel markers, and they should be maintained by someone. Who that someone is, I don’t really know,” Hawkins said.

Whanganui Port project manager Phil Wardale said there was a suite of activities and projects under Te Pūwaha - the port revitalisation project - and improving river navigation was one of them.

“Navigational aids are a key element in any waterway, and if they are developed and maintained, that waterway becomes more attractive to both recreational and commercial users,” Wardale said.

Wardale said a number of parties were involved in creating improvements, including Maritime NZ, Horizons Regional Council, Whanganui District Council, and the Whanganui Port Operating Company.

Other aspects of Te Pūwaha intended to help ensure a navigable depth for river users included reinstating both the north and south moles and other river training structures, alongside the Port Operating Company recently applying for priority dredging consent.

“We look forward to working collaboratively to ensure the awa [river] can safely be enjoyed by both recreational and commercial vessels with the use of appropriate navigational structures and aids,” he said.

Hawkins said with or without markers, knowing the river and the hazards was the responsibility of the skipper.

“It’s a bit like driving down the road, I suppose - check where you’re going,” he said.

The best thing boaties can do to learn where it was safe to travel in the river, he said, was to go out at low tide, as the walls and banks would be visible.

“They’re clearly visible at low tide, [so] they can get an idea of where the hazards are.”

He also suggested anyone going out in a powered vessel, jetskis included, take at least a one-day skipper’s course so they know what to do when out on the river.

“My personal belief [is], if you’re taking a watercraft out on the water, especially a powered one... you should be doing at least a [day-long] skipper course, just to get your head around the general rules of the road,” he said.

As well as this, vessels under six metres are required to have an all-around white light onboard to spot unseen hazards at night and to allow other river users to see them.