MEDIA RELEASE

August 2011

Coastguard North Shore Rescue Vessel Given New Lease of Life

Coastguard's dedicated North Shore volunteers are back on the Waitemata Harbour aboard their newly refurbished rescue vessel, NZCT North Shore Rescue.

The vessel, a 9.5 metre rescue vessel has been involved in over 800 rescues in its four years of service and has just completed its mid life refit. This process included a hull and cabin repaint, new Yamaha 250HP four- stroke outboard engines and an upgraded radar capability.

President of Coastguard's Northern Region, Joe Davis, says, "Our volunteers risk their lives every day to save New Zealanders in trouble on the water. They don't ask a cent for the work they just ask for the right training and equipment they need to do the job safely.

"This refurbishment project helps our volunteers on Auckland's North Shore to do just that."

Fundraising support from the local community, including the Browns Bay Market Trust, combined with Coastguard funding support helped to make the project a reality. The on going generous support for the vessel from the New Zealand Community Trust ( NZCT) ensures the vessel is capable of continuing to save lives.

Mark Raubenheimer, Coastguard North Shore President, says that volunteers at the unit are grateful for the local support and are looking forward to putting the improved vessel through her paces.

"With daylight hours extending, we are heading toward the busiest time of year so it's the perfect time to get North Shore Rescue back in the water and familiarise ourselves with all the new features."

The North Shore Coastguard unit is one of the busiest units in the country. Volunteers responded to over 230 calls for assistance in the past year and dedicated over 12,500 hours of their time to fulfil Coastguard's community promise of saving lives at sea.

About Coastguard Northern Region:

Coastguard is the charity that provides New Zealand's primary maritime search and rescue service. The organisation operates from a network of four regions and 71 affiliated units, located around the coastline and major lakes of New Zealand. Coastguard Northern Region operates the area from Thames across to the Mokau River and everything north and is based at the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre (AMRC) in Mechanics Bay. Each year the operations room at the AMRC receives over 100,000 VHF marine radio calls.

Coastguard Northern Region however, does more than daring rescues at sea. Generations of dedicated people have established an organisation that provides a wealth of services to every person using our harbours and beaches.

* We provide a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service.

* Install and maintain VHF radio repeaters throughout the Northern Region to enable mariners to communicate with each other over long distances.

* Install and maintain buoys and beacons to make recreational boating safer.

* Provide a 24 hour continuous weather forecast on marine radio VHF channels 20, 21, 22 and 23.

* Accept trip reports from any vessel able to make radio contact.

* Provide a range of boating education courses to ensure that boaties have a sound knowledge of their boats and the rules of the road at sea.

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