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Dunedin Public Libraries and the Dunedin Lebanese Community Present:
HE PURAPURA MARARA SCATTERED SEEDS
HE PURAPURA MARARA SCATTERED SEEDS
Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue
Main details
Search and Rescue in Dunedin
Following this 1971 marine search and rescue seminar the Dunedin police wrote a letter dated September 1, 1971 to Otago Surf Life Saving, Dunedin Dive club, boating clubs, the harbour master, and other interested people inviting them to a meeting on the September 8, to discuss the first three items of recommendations from the seminar and form a marine search and rescue committee.
The minutes of this meeting did not record who attended but reports from Sergeant Cleland, Commander Bardwick and Captain Parry were presented. In speaking, the stress was placed on the definition of the words Close to Shore. A search and rescue committee was formed with the role of adviser and contact men discussed and defined.
For a number of years the committee held meetings each month and latterly two monthly at the Dunedin Central Police Station and R.N.V.R. Headquarters before returning to the Police social club, where they have met since.
For many years the committee was chaired by a police officer with fellowship as one of the feature items as recorded in minutes closing with “A very pleasant 2 hours was spent socialising”. This was a very convenient way to get to know one another as well find the strengths and weakness of each other, which is essential during incidents. This fellowship opportunity was lost when, in 1969, blood alcohol and breath testing procedures were introduced.
It was not until November 1972 that a record of members of the committee is recorded and in February 1974 the first time advisers were recorded as “official”.
In June 1974 a seminar was held in Wellington with the aim to consolidate the progress which had been made following the 1971 seminar. This was sponsored by the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport and Dunedin was represented by Mr. C. Corkill & Capt J Harger. Subjects covered were accident compensation, marine insurance for SAR volunteers, Marine SAR problems, radio communication, and district marine SAR plans with the emphasis on the use of surf life saving, fishermen, aircraft and divers.
Sergeant A. Monk, Police National Headquarters, opened his address at the Marine Seminar stating, “It was recently stated by a member of Parliament that there are now in excess of 100,000 boats in New Zealand. Boating clubs confirm that the numbers are still increasing. It follows that the number of marine incidents will also increase and with them an awareness of the value of mutual aid rescue facilities.”
By this time the police had asked the committee for advice and assistance to respond to incidents as far south as Owaka. Very quickly it was clear to the committee that they had to take a lead role in search or rescue incidents as the police were not trained or equipped to carry out the technical functions of an in shore marine incident.
The management of all marine close to shore search and rescue is the responsibility of the police. This did not mean that police staff did all the organising take direct control of the incident response and get their “feet wet”. In Dunedin volunteer marine advisers to the police, as in other centres, were appointed and in the early days also registered in the police gazette. Their position was to recommend what action should be taken, then contacted and asked the appropriate resource to respond and then coordinate the response. The police maintained an overview and ensured that police or legal protocol was not breached, while the adviser/coordinator in consultation and approval of the Police monitored the response progress through planning, plotting and direction, the progress of the incident. The police were also very useful in unlocking property for access and other delicate situations. The police then and today only reimburse for ‘out of pocket expenses’.
The quest for efficiency led to administrative changes in 1989 when the rescue coordination centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were replaced by the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre, run by the Civil Aviation Authority which was in charge of air crash and wide area Class III searches. However, a fatal boating accident off Oamaru in May 2003 exposed problems, particularly with communications. In 2003, the government provided funding for a new body in Lower Hutt, to provide a 24-hour seven-day service. This was called the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) and was launched in 2004. This in itself did not affect close to shore incidents which are controlled by local police, but the RCCNZ is used for advice and technical planning.
In 1996, New Zealand Police moved from the 29 district-based control rooms Computer Aided Dispatch [CAD] system to a centralised Communications and Resource Deployment (CARD) system. Three Communications Centres were established nationwide at the three main centres, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The protocol or process for the communications centre was to make an initial judgment of the appropriate response and forward that by an alert pager system to all the SAR responders with the alert message targeting a local responder. This continues to work well with those not immediately asked to response having a “heads up” on the incident and can be prepared should they be next called.
The move to centralised Communications and Resource Deployment continues to have a large affect on the volunteer responders and their control/coordination system.
In 2013 the police introduced another source of communications and resource deployment with the establishment of, in the case of Dunedin, the Dunedin Coordination Centre (DCC). This now means that volunteers can get instructions from three sources to three different volunteer groups; each may not know what the other has been tasked or advised.
The police for many years have maintained a police search and rescue squad which specialised in land incidents. In later years the Police SAR squad also become more involved in the marine aspect with the appointment of duty search and rescue officers. These officers would take the police role that general duty staff on many occasions previously undertook at marine incidents.
Over the first 9 years Dunedin MSAR had responded to well over 260 calls for assistance and by December 2015 Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue has responded to over 1,360 calls for assistance; only 73% of these were within the boundaries of the Otago Harbour, city beaches or the Otago Peninsular.
There being no specially designed rescue boats available in the early days, the reliance was on the already proven recreation boats, commercial fishing Industry and surf life saving to perform the on water tasks - Each with a little search and rescue education and taking part in exercises (SAREX) proved adequate for the incidents encountered.
The committee was very forward thinking and quick to explore better ways to rescue those in difficulty. Many of the members, through their boating and aquatic pursuits, had experienced voluntary or involuntary, the frigid winter and summer temperatures of the local waters.
In May 1972 the idea of air drop life rafts was proposed. Enquiries found that there was no life raft specifically made for this task available. A supplier was happy to pack a raft that could be suitable for this role and this encouraged Mr Lou Vorgers to pursue funding for a raft. It was not until September 1975 that Mr Vorgers advised that service clubs at Port Chalmers were prepared to put up the purchase price. By November 1976 a third raft had been placed on order. The rafts were seldom used but dispatched in a plane on a number of occasions. The last raft became unserviceable in 2013.
In November 1976 the police reported that there was a helicopter rescue net in Invercargill and it was arranged to be brought to Dunedin and demonstrated. As no helicopters were available in Dunedin the demonstration net was suspended from a Harbour Board crane at the Kitchener Street wharf. Nets for Dunedin, Moeraki and Taieri Mouth were purchased and used on a number of occasions, the most prominent occasion being the 1980 Taieri Plain floods when it was used to rescue two stranded people at Henley.
Europa Oil Company donated a Hamilton jet rescue boat to Otago Surf Life Saving and that was made available to Dunedin MSAR in 1978 after crew training was completed. The now redundant Moana Rua surf club above the beach between St.Clair and St.Kilda was altered and an addition for the boat added to house it with access to the water through a cutting in the sandhills. The boat did enhance the ability of Marine SAR to call outs but proved over time that unless it was in the right place at the time, or time allowed, its response was too slow. It was made redundant after the introduction of the Surf Life Saving Arancia Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB).
Divers were also a key component of Dunedin MSAR and were ‘officially’ available for MSAR until the Accident Compensation Act and Health and Safety regulations determined that the Police Dive Squad had to conduct all dive operations in New Zealand. The local dive squad did not do many actual incidents but assisted with the launching and recovery of boats. Divers with appropriate commercial qualifications are still available when the incident need arises.
With the interest of those in distress, a variety of ideas have been offered to Dunedin MSAR over time, one being the Bob Begg-invented and very successful divers safety sausage, which is now sold worldwide. An underwater propulsion system for divers to get to a distressed person faster than the Shark Cat rescue boat, it was to be housed at the top of the cliff at Second Beach to the South of St.Clair and have a launch ramp into the sea for the boat.
Marine Search and Rescue activity is a specialist vocation with Dunedin MSAR looking from the angle that it is vital to choose the appropriate resource, such as Surf Life Saving, helicopter, recreational boatie or fishing vessel operator with the best local knowledge and the necessary nautical skills, to make the most effective and economic utilisation of marine assets.
A large portion of rescues are at the local beaches, and the Otago Surf Life Saving, a foundation member of Dunedin MSAR, is extensively used. They are the experts in surf and rock coastline search and rescue, having extensive in house qualifications and vast experience. There is not the need to teach basic or advanced boating skills but to clarify the expectations for good search and rescue practice.
The driving force behind the organisation from the start have been Lou Vorgers, Mike Parry, Alan McNaughton, and latterly Martin Balch, Warren Lewis, Alan Hughes, Bob Begg, Rowan Leck, and Brian Benn, and without their dedication the organisation would not have grown. By 2015 half of these people are still very active. In 2012 a young enthusiastic group of people came on board coinciding with a greater need for finance resulting from a general increase in costs, training and qualification requirements.
The format of the management of Dunedin MSAR remained much the same over the years with meetings bi-monthly; the secretary and chairman conducting urgent business with approval at the following meeting. In 2006 an ‘official’ executive committee was formed who meet on alternate months.
The operational activity of DnMSAR has continually expanded, apart from locations of continual interest such as Bird Island, Blackhead, Brighton, Cape Saunders, City Beaches, Karitane, Lawyers Head, Otago Harbour, Port Chalmers, Taiaroa Head, Taieri Mouth, Warrington and White Island.
Other locations visited of note are to sea 80 Nm East of Dunedin, Auckland Islands, Central Otago, Bounty Islands, Foveaux Strait, Jacksons Bay, Lake Benmore and 130 Nm south of New Zealand.
Between its inception in 1971 and December 2015 Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue has responded to over 1,360 requests for assistance and advice from police. These incidents range from missing, lost or overdue persons, overdue boats or stranded boats, people and dogs, foundering boats, distressed swimmers and surf board riders, body recovery and vessels on fire. Many of the incidents have been a mixture of frustration, hilarious and sometimes tragic, but there has been no loss of life of a distressed person after DnMSAR has received a call for assistance. The duration from the alert, to the safety of the victim or a stand down, very seldom lasts over two hours, but the majority average no longer than 30 minutes, plus reinstatement of the gear and the crew wind down period.
Practical search and rescue exercises, (SAREX) while not well documented are heavily dependent on available finance. They have been wide and varied including a bus load of children in the harbour near Raynbirds Point with no road access due to slips, diver missing at sea, ship on fire, missing people on a river and harbour, cyclists over a cliff requiring sea recovery, air sea rescue, plane crash at sea to name a few. Outside of this, SAREX management training has heavily relied on police, and later Coastguard provided seminars at the Police Training College and a one off incident controller’s course in Christchurch. In-house management training has also been conducted.
Public education and MSAR SAR displays have been organised since the early 1970s, the first held at Taieri Mouth demonstrating the helicopter scoop net, the jet rescue boat and finally the firing of distress flares by the public. This was followed by static displays, and on 21 November 1976 a Marinaganza in the harbour basin where the use of the air drop life raft was demonstrated. The Otago Aero club performed a fly past and there were displays by surf life saving, boating clubs, sky diving, Red Cross, navy and sea cadets, and Fire Brigade.
The most visual display with public participation has been distress flare events held at Taieri Mouth, the Otago upper harbour and at John Wilson Drive. At each of these events the public learnt the safety and firing procedures for the flares followed by the opportunity to fire their own, or the provided distress flares. Each of these events attracting large numbers of people to attend and take part or view the event from advantage points round the city.
In 1992 Rowan Leck expressed his concern at the number of isolated locations people were taking their boats to go fishing and surf board riders surfing. In the event of either requiring assistance a time delay using present rescue services could become unacceptable. Rowan presented a case for an air sea rescue unit based on his observations of the use of the helicopter he saw abroad. Westpac helicopters in both Auckland and Christchurch had similar ideas working and Rowan visited both for further ideas. Approaching Otago Helicopters, Graeme Gale was extremely interested and helpful and agreed to be part of the project. It was not until October 1994 that the training of a squad began. A boost to the team was the introduction of the Kawasaki BK117 helicopter which included a winch. The pinnacle of the team’s training was the rescue of the 10 crew from the Groupama 3 80 Nm off the Dunedin coast in February 2008 with the use of three rescue helicopters.
The New Zealand Coastguard was formed in Auckland In 1976 and Dunedin MSAR became a foundation member in 1977 by paying a $25 annual fee. After seeing nothing in return the fee was allowed to lapse. In the years following, presentations from the NZ Coastguard chairman, chief executive officer, operations support officer and board members were received by Dunedin MSAR, each encouraging the group to become a full member of the Coastguard citing that it would be of great benefit to the group.
In 1996, Dunedin MSAR formally joined the now named Royal New Zealand Coastguard Federation.
The diverse resources within Dunedin MSAR, including the air sea rescue team and the variety of locations and types of incidents did not fit with Coastguard ideology and in August 2002, Dunedin MSAR resigned from the Coastguard.
Throughout the years funding for specialist equipment, training and other incidental costs has enabled the group to maintain the high standards it has set itself. The membership being small with a very slow turnover has created a very effective team. Not one person has died after Dunedin MSAR has been advised of a person in distress.
Following this 1971 marine search and rescue seminar the Dunedin police wrote a letter dated September 1, 1971 to Otago Surf Life Saving, Dunedin Dive club, boating clubs, the harbour master, and other interested people inviting them to a meeting on the September 8, to discuss the first three items of recommendations from the seminar and form a marine search and rescue committee.
The minutes of this meeting did not record who attended but reports from Sergeant Cleland, Commander Bardwick and Captain Parry were presented. In speaking, the stress was placed on the definition of the words Close to Shore. A search and rescue committee was formed with the role of adviser and contact men discussed and defined.
For a number of years the committee held meetings each month and latterly two monthly at the Dunedin Central Police Station and R.N.V.R. Headquarters before returning to the Police social club, where they have met since.
For many years the committee was chaired by a police officer with fellowship as one of the feature items as recorded in minutes closing with “A very pleasant 2 hours was spent socialising”. This was a very convenient way to get to know one another as well find the strengths and weakness of each other, which is essential during incidents. This fellowship opportunity was lost when, in 1969, blood alcohol and breath testing procedures were introduced.
It was not until November 1972 that a record of members of the committee is recorded and in February 1974 the first time advisers were recorded as “official”.
In June 1974 a seminar was held in Wellington with the aim to consolidate the progress which had been made following the 1971 seminar. This was sponsored by the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport and Dunedin was represented by Mr. C. Corkill & Capt J Harger. Subjects covered were accident compensation, marine insurance for SAR volunteers, Marine SAR problems, radio communication, and district marine SAR plans with the emphasis on the use of surf life saving, fishermen, aircraft and divers.
Sergeant A. Monk, Police National Headquarters, opened his address at the Marine Seminar stating, “It was recently stated by a member of Parliament that there are now in excess of 100,000 boats in New Zealand. Boating clubs confirm that the numbers are still increasing. It follows that the number of marine incidents will also increase and with them an awareness of the value of mutual aid rescue facilities.”
By this time the police had asked the committee for advice and assistance to respond to incidents as far south as Owaka. Very quickly it was clear to the committee that they had to take a lead role in search or rescue incidents as the police were not trained or equipped to carry out the technical functions of an in shore marine incident.
The management of all marine close to shore search and rescue is the responsibility of the police. This did not mean that police staff did all the organising take direct control of the incident response and get their “feet wet”. In Dunedin volunteer marine advisers to the police, as in other centres, were appointed and in the early days also registered in the police gazette. Their position was to recommend what action should be taken, then contacted and asked the appropriate resource to respond and then coordinate the response. The police maintained an overview and ensured that police or legal protocol was not breached, while the adviser/coordinator in consultation and approval of the Police monitored the response progress through planning, plotting and direction, the progress of the incident. The police were also very useful in unlocking property for access and other delicate situations. The police then and today only reimburse for ‘out of pocket expenses’.
The quest for efficiency led to administrative changes in 1989 when the rescue coordination centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were replaced by the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre, run by the Civil Aviation Authority which was in charge of air crash and wide area Class III searches. However, a fatal boating accident off Oamaru in May 2003 exposed problems, particularly with communications. In 2003, the government provided funding for a new body in Lower Hutt, to provide a 24-hour seven-day service. This was called the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) and was launched in 2004. This in itself did not affect close to shore incidents which are controlled by local police, but the RCCNZ is used for advice and technical planning.
In 1996, New Zealand Police moved from the 29 district-based control rooms Computer Aided Dispatch [CAD] system to a centralised Communications and Resource Deployment (CARD) system. Three Communications Centres were established nationwide at the three main centres, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The protocol or process for the communications centre was to make an initial judgment of the appropriate response and forward that by an alert pager system to all the SAR responders with the alert message targeting a local responder. This continues to work well with those not immediately asked to response having a “heads up” on the incident and can be prepared should they be next called.
The move to centralised Communications and Resource Deployment continues to have a large affect on the volunteer responders and their control/coordination system.
In 2013 the police introduced another source of communications and resource deployment with the establishment of, in the case of Dunedin, the Dunedin Coordination Centre (DCC). This now means that volunteers can get instructions from three sources to three different volunteer groups; each may not know what the other has been tasked or advised.
The police for many years have maintained a police search and rescue squad which specialised in land incidents. In later years the Police SAR squad also become more involved in the marine aspect with the appointment of duty search and rescue officers. These officers would take the police role that general duty staff on many occasions previously undertook at marine incidents.
Over the first 9 years Dunedin MSAR had responded to well over 260 calls for assistance and by December 2015 Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue has responded to over 1,360 calls for assistance; only 73% of these were within the boundaries of the Otago Harbour, city beaches or the Otago Peninsular.
There being no specially designed rescue boats available in the early days, the reliance was on the already proven recreation boats, commercial fishing Industry and surf life saving to perform the on water tasks - Each with a little search and rescue education and taking part in exercises (SAREX) proved adequate for the incidents encountered.
The committee was very forward thinking and quick to explore better ways to rescue those in difficulty. Many of the members, through their boating and aquatic pursuits, had experienced voluntary or involuntary, the frigid winter and summer temperatures of the local waters.
In May 1972 the idea of air drop life rafts was proposed. Enquiries found that there was no life raft specifically made for this task available. A supplier was happy to pack a raft that could be suitable for this role and this encouraged Mr Lou Vorgers to pursue funding for a raft. It was not until September 1975 that Mr Vorgers advised that service clubs at Port Chalmers were prepared to put up the purchase price. By November 1976 a third raft had been placed on order. The rafts were seldom used but dispatched in a plane on a number of occasions. The last raft became unserviceable in 2013.
In November 1976 the police reported that there was a helicopter rescue net in Invercargill and it was arranged to be brought to Dunedin and demonstrated. As no helicopters were available in Dunedin the demonstration net was suspended from a Harbour Board crane at the Kitchener Street wharf. Nets for Dunedin, Moeraki and Taieri Mouth were purchased and used on a number of occasions, the most prominent occasion being the 1980 Taieri Plain floods when it was used to rescue two stranded people at Henley.
Europa Oil Company donated a Hamilton jet rescue boat to Otago Surf Life Saving and that was made available to Dunedin MSAR in 1978 after crew training was completed. The now redundant Moana Rua surf club above the beach between St.Clair and St.Kilda was altered and an addition for the boat added to house it with access to the water through a cutting in the sandhills. The boat did enhance the ability of Marine SAR to call outs but proved over time that unless it was in the right place at the time, or time allowed, its response was too slow. It was made redundant after the introduction of the Surf Life Saving Arancia Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB).
Divers were also a key component of Dunedin MSAR and were ‘officially’ available for MSAR until the Accident Compensation Act and Health and Safety regulations determined that the Police Dive Squad had to conduct all dive operations in New Zealand. The local dive squad did not do many actual incidents but assisted with the launching and recovery of boats. Divers with appropriate commercial qualifications are still available when the incident need arises.
With the interest of those in distress, a variety of ideas have been offered to Dunedin MSAR over time, one being the Bob Begg-invented and very successful divers safety sausage, which is now sold worldwide. An underwater propulsion system for divers to get to a distressed person faster than the Shark Cat rescue boat, it was to be housed at the top of the cliff at Second Beach to the South of St.Clair and have a launch ramp into the sea for the boat.
Marine Search and Rescue activity is a specialist vocation with Dunedin MSAR looking from the angle that it is vital to choose the appropriate resource, such as Surf Life Saving, helicopter, recreational boatie or fishing vessel operator with the best local knowledge and the necessary nautical skills, to make the most effective and economic utilisation of marine assets.
A large portion of rescues are at the local beaches, and the Otago Surf Life Saving, a foundation member of Dunedin MSAR, is extensively used. They are the experts in surf and rock coastline search and rescue, having extensive in house qualifications and vast experience. There is not the need to teach basic or advanced boating skills but to clarify the expectations for good search and rescue practice.
The driving force behind the organisation from the start have been Lou Vorgers, Mike Parry, Alan McNaughton, and latterly Martin Balch, Warren Lewis, Alan Hughes, Bob Begg, Rowan Leck, and Brian Benn, and without their dedication the organisation would not have grown. By 2015 half of these people are still very active. In 2012 a young enthusiastic group of people came on board coinciding with a greater need for finance resulting from a general increase in costs, training and qualification requirements.
The format of the management of Dunedin MSAR remained much the same over the years with meetings bi-monthly; the secretary and chairman conducting urgent business with approval at the following meeting. In 2006 an ‘official’ executive committee was formed who meet on alternate months.
The operational activity of DnMSAR has continually expanded, apart from locations of continual interest such as Bird Island, Blackhead, Brighton, Cape Saunders, City Beaches, Karitane, Lawyers Head, Otago Harbour, Port Chalmers, Taiaroa Head, Taieri Mouth, Warrington and White Island.
Other locations visited of note are to sea 80 Nm East of Dunedin, Auckland Islands, Central Otago, Bounty Islands, Foveaux Strait, Jacksons Bay, Lake Benmore and 130 Nm south of New Zealand.
Between its inception in 1971 and December 2015 Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue has responded to over 1,360 requests for assistance and advice from police. These incidents range from missing, lost or overdue persons, overdue boats or stranded boats, people and dogs, foundering boats, distressed swimmers and surf board riders, body recovery and vessels on fire. Many of the incidents have been a mixture of frustration, hilarious and sometimes tragic, but there has been no loss of life of a distressed person after DnMSAR has received a call for assistance. The duration from the alert, to the safety of the victim or a stand down, very seldom lasts over two hours, but the majority average no longer than 30 minutes, plus reinstatement of the gear and the crew wind down period.
Practical search and rescue exercises, (SAREX) while not well documented are heavily dependent on available finance. They have been wide and varied including a bus load of children in the harbour near Raynbirds Point with no road access due to slips, diver missing at sea, ship on fire, missing people on a river and harbour, cyclists over a cliff requiring sea recovery, air sea rescue, plane crash at sea to name a few. Outside of this, SAREX management training has heavily relied on police, and later Coastguard provided seminars at the Police Training College and a one off incident controller’s course in Christchurch. In-house management training has also been conducted.
Public education and MSAR SAR displays have been organised since the early 1970s, the first held at Taieri Mouth demonstrating the helicopter scoop net, the jet rescue boat and finally the firing of distress flares by the public. This was followed by static displays, and on 21 November 1976 a Marinaganza in the harbour basin where the use of the air drop life raft was demonstrated. The Otago Aero club performed a fly past and there were displays by surf life saving, boating clubs, sky diving, Red Cross, navy and sea cadets, and Fire Brigade.
The most visual display with public participation has been distress flare events held at Taieri Mouth, the Otago upper harbour and at John Wilson Drive. At each of these events the public learnt the safety and firing procedures for the flares followed by the opportunity to fire their own, or the provided distress flares. Each of these events attracting large numbers of people to attend and take part or view the event from advantage points round the city.
In 1992 Rowan Leck expressed his concern at the number of isolated locations people were taking their boats to go fishing and surf board riders surfing. In the event of either requiring assistance a time delay using present rescue services could become unacceptable. Rowan presented a case for an air sea rescue unit based on his observations of the use of the helicopter he saw abroad. Westpac helicopters in both Auckland and Christchurch had similar ideas working and Rowan visited both for further ideas. Approaching Otago Helicopters, Graeme Gale was extremely interested and helpful and agreed to be part of the project. It was not until October 1994 that the training of a squad began. A boost to the team was the introduction of the Kawasaki BK117 helicopter which included a winch. The pinnacle of the team’s training was the rescue of the 10 crew from the Groupama 3 80 Nm off the Dunedin coast in February 2008 with the use of three rescue helicopters.
The New Zealand Coastguard was formed in Auckland In 1976 and Dunedin MSAR became a foundation member in 1977 by paying a $25 annual fee. After seeing nothing in return the fee was allowed to lapse. In the years following, presentations from the NZ Coastguard chairman, chief executive officer, operations support officer and board members were received by Dunedin MSAR, each encouraging the group to become a full member of the Coastguard citing that it would be of great benefit to the group.
In 1996, Dunedin MSAR formally joined the now named Royal New Zealand Coastguard Federation.
The diverse resources within Dunedin MSAR, including the air sea rescue team and the variety of locations and types of incidents did not fit with Coastguard ideology and in August 2002, Dunedin MSAR resigned from the Coastguard.
Throughout the years funding for specialist equipment, training and other incidental costs has enabled the group to maintain the high standards it has set itself. The membership being small with a very slow turnover has created a very effective team. Not one person has died after Dunedin MSAR has been advised of a person in distress.
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Dunedin Public Libraries (13th Apr 2016). Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue. In Website Dunedin Public Libraries. Retrieved 29th Apr 2026 06:11, from https://dunedin.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/199886