Kiwi rescuers get guiding hand from tech

The latest global satellite tracking technology will help Coastguard volunteers save lives at sea.

On a stormy night with near-zero visibility, two injured fishermen stuck on rocks off Adderley Head, in Lyttelton Harbour, were saved from a rapidly incoming tide by a volunteer search-and-rescue team using world-class technology.

From the comfort of headquarters, Canterbury Coastguard Search and Rescue controller Jim Lilley guided a rescue vessel to within metres of the men using a VHF tracking system that was originally designed for dispatching taxis and cargo-laden trucks.

The "live tracking" system allows Coastguard shore crew to pick up precise longitude and latitude position reports of its own boats as often as every 30 seconds. The data can be displayed on a computer monitor loaded with digital charts (maps).

In the case of a search at sea, it also allows rescue co-ordinators ashore to map out search patterns on-screen, making sure every area is covered. Lilley said that without the technology, the rescue off Adderley Head would have been much more complicated.

"It was as black as Hades and the skipper could not even see the bow of the rescue boat. I could see on the computer just what the heading was and I could (guide) the skipper in by using the system and telling him at what point to slow and to start feeling for the bottom (with) a boat hook.

"(Without the tracking) it would've been done either by Braille or using a helicopter with a searchlight. But that was difficult, with a cliff overhead."

Coastguard Southern regional manager Anthony Dawson said the system had been trialled in Canterbury for five years before the decision was made to roll out a new generation of the system nationally later this year.

He said it had helped ensure searches were done thoroughly.

"You can tell the boat to start at this point here, or fence that bit off. It's just a better way."

Having the search so closely controlled from land means more experienced boaties can direct the search from the base.

"That's usually your older people; their days of going out and getting hammered on a boat are gone," Dawson said.

"They can basically be in the warmth of headquarters, do the calculations and relay findings to the skipper on the boat."

It also meant search and rescue volunteers -- who are on call 24/7 -- could go about their task with less risk.

"Everyone at HQ can bring up on large screens their craft for the area and show a 'snail trail' for where it's going. In terms of safety it gives us the ability to know straightaway exactly where that boat is."

Within the next few months Coastguard New Zealand's 89 rescue boats and about six rescue aircraft will each have a small black box tracking terminal installed and be able to use the TracPlus software and mapping system.

The system was developed by Dunedin-based aviation, maritime and terrestrial tracking company Daestra New Zealand.

Mike Lawrence, from Coastguard Northern region, is responsible for the national roll-out. He said one of the main advantages of using a GPS-based system like TracPlus, compared to the old way of contact via 800mHz band UHF radio, was the vastly improved coverage.

"Unless you're under a lead roof or a huge, steep overhanging cliff to the north, you've got coverage. It's probably more than 98 per cent."

Lawrence was cautious about saying the system would help save more stricken boaties, saying only that it "should help our service delivery".

However, Dawson was less circumspect: "It's all about speed and if you're able to calculate more quickly where that labouring boat is, or where people in the water are,

"It's all about speed and if you're able to calculate more quickly where that labouring boat is, or where people in the water are, that's life and death.''

- © Fairfax NZ News