23 NOVEMBER 2016.
METOCEAN SOLUTIONS WINS MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AWARD
NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE DURING TRAINING OPERATIONS.
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has announced MetOcean Solutions a winner of the annual Minister of Defence Industry
Awards of Excellence for 2016. The company won the 'Provision of a product to Defence for less than $15 million'
category for the SurfZoneView software. SurfZoneView is a tool designed to assist amphibious landings by modelling and
visualising surf conditions.
"We are very proud to receive the award," says Technical Director Dr David Johnson. "The creation of SurfZoneView was an
excellent collaborative project in which we worked together with the New Zealand Defence Technology Agency to take their
concept from vision to reality. It is a great example of applying leading edge oceanographic science to solve real-world
problems. We are very happy to have created something that will help keep the Royal New Zealand Navy personnel safe."
MetOcean Solutions is now making the tool commercially available to navies, civil defence agencies and coast guards
around the world.
"The safe transfer of equipment and personnel from sea onto land is fraught with difficulty for any agency operating in
the nearshore environment," adds Dr Johnson. "Beach landings are notoriously dangerous, but through modelling the wave
and current conditions we can identify safe transects and landing spots. The user inputs the bathymetry of the area of
interest and specifies the offshore wave conditions, and the tool does the rest.
"MetOcean Solutions provided forecasts for the naval landings in Kaikoura in connection with evacuation of people
following the earthquakes there."
David believes that the success of the SurfZoneView was the result of good collaboration with the Defence Technology
Agency.
"Close relationships are critical to solve the key challenges facing New Zealand. We have a finite pool of people and
resources to protect, manage and understand the vast ocean and extensive coastline of New Zealand. We have a
collaborative project underway to deploy a wave buoy further south than ever done before. The involvement of the Defence
Technology Agency and contribution of a New Zealand Defence Force vessel to do the deployment will be critical for the
success of that project."
Click here for the Ministry of Defence press release.