The unforgiving eastern coastline of Central District now has a vastly enhanced communications system to improve marine safety, and it will be officially launched this weekend in the culmination of five days of search and rescue training.
Until now the communities from Porangahau through to Akitio have been reliant on ship to shore communications using line of sight only because of the shape of the coastline.
A 25w repeater was commissioned on 20 July and is now in place at Cape Turnagain allowing all of the communities along the coastline to talk to one another, with hills and cliffs no longer proving an obstruction. The Cape Turnagain Marine Radio Users Group, a non-profit organisation, will officially open on Saturday marking the launch of the new system.
Central District Search and Rescue Co-ordinator Sgt Bill Nicholson said: "The area experiences very high winds, the coastline is rugged and there is no Surf Life Saving or Coastguard, so it is reliant on the goodwill and assistant of locals. Thankfully there has not been a major marine catastrophe but the potential for one is certainly there.
"Channel 16 is always the recommended emergency frequency however it is patchy in places. In addition to Channel 16 we now have the repeater operating on Marine 2 which enables coastal communities to talk directly to each other and further out to sea than would have previously been the case for routine marine communications."
Sgt Nicholson is currently running an intensive marine training programme which began yesterday (Tuesday, 17 August) and continues today with the upskilling of Police Incident Controllers who are on call and provide the initial marine search and rescue response.
Tomorrow (Thursday, 19 August) the Square Trust and Helipro rescue helicopters from Palmerston North will fly to Foxton Fire Station to join Police, Coastguard, Fire and Surf Life Saving for a tabletop exercise.
Then on Saturday the same two aircraft will fly to Herbertville to take part in an all-day exercise. Weather will dictate whether this will be a practical exercise involving local vessels of a tabletop exercise.
"The aim is to exercise the communication, call-out system and initial tasking of resources during an incident and we will take the opportunity to test out the new repeater," said Sgt Nicholson. "It's an excellent way for the different people involved to network and become fully conversant with the resources available during an incident. We train regularly and run intensive exercise such as this on an annual basis."
The official launch of the Cape Turnagain Marine Radio Users Group will take place at 12.45pm at Herbertville Golf Club. An air-to-ground radio and a marine radio have also been installed at Herbertville and Akitio to improve communications even further.
The training programme will be repeated in New Plymouth and Wanganui later in the year.
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 027 234 8256.