Rescue boat $80,000 closer

The sea off Cape Egmont can be the roughest in New Zealand, but up until now there has been no proper sea rescue service to help anyone who gets into trouble.

Now a group of committed locals are banding together to change that.

They are members of the Cape Egmont Sea Rescue Trust, which is investing $540,000 into construction of a new 10.5m boat that will be permanently on hand for search and rescue work.

When the boat is delivered early next year, it will be the fastest and most powerful Coastguard vessel along the west coast of the North Island – and already that has interested the operators of the inter-island ferries.

So far the trust has raised a substantial amount of money via debentures from Cape Egmont locals and a donation from AWE New Zealand Ltd, the operator of the offshore Tui oilfield.

Yesterday more energy companies joined the big effort, with the joint venture owners of the Maari offshore oilfield handing the trust a cheque for $80,000. The partners – field operator OMV New Zealand, Todd Energy, Horizon Oil International and Cue Taranaki Pty – will also cover the annual maintenance costs for the vessel, which will be named Cape Egmont Rescue.

And that means the organisation is now more than halfway towards paying for the new boat, trust chairman Frank Goodin said.

"We're very appreciative of the help. So far we've felt a bit like a fire brigade without a fire engine – but now when we get a craft we're going to have a purpose."

The boat, now being built by Bladerunner boats of Auckland, will have a top speed of 40 knots [75kmh], a range of 500 nautical miles, and will be able to stay at sea for up to 20 hours.

It can carry 24 passengers and crew.

"The purpose-built vessel will be a huge boost to the search and rescue capability of the region and we are proud to be associated with this valuable community service," OMV New Zealand managing director Wayne Kirk said on behalf of the Maari partners.

His operations and engineering manager Andrew Jefferies handed the cheque over to the trust at a ceremony in Taranaki yesterday.

"The Maari partners are keen to support the trust because we have a real interest in making sure the rescue services in this region can do the job if required," Mr Kirk said.

"We applaud the Cape Egmont Sea Rescue Trust for taking this project on, and also the volunteers who will ensure the vessel is available around the clock. For many years these volunteers – fishermen, farmers and others – have worked tirelessly to provide a rescue service in the whole area.

"This new boat will make their job easier and ensure the seas around Taranaki are safer for the whole community."

Mr Goodin said that up until two years ago the trust did have a smaller rigid inflatable boat that the New Zealand Coastguard had seconded to Cape Egmont several years before.

But the boat wasn't capable of handling the seas, sometimes not even having sufficient horsepower to get out through the surf off its base at the Cape Egmont Boat Club. So now it is based in far calmer waters at Queenstown.

"We need something much bigger here. The design we've settled on will be perfect," Mr Goodin said.

- © Fairfax NZ News