Maritime New Zealand is responsible for maintaining VHF and HF radio services for New Zealand's coastal waters and the South Pacific. As well as providing around-the-clock monitoring of VHF and HF distress channels.
Maritime New Zealand also broadcasts safety information, such as meteorological warnings, navigational warnings and ionospheric prediction warnings. Warnings are broadcast at set times of the day or anytime warnings come to hand.
The region covered by the New Zealand Distress and Safety Radio Service is known as NAVAREA XIV. This region extends from mid-Tasman to mid-Pacific and from Antarctica to the Equator. It covers 12.5% of the earth's ocean surface.
The maritime distress radio system is a radio network and operations centre dedicated to issuing weather and navigation warnings and handling distress and safety radio calls within the NAVAREA XIV radio coverage region.
The network is a series of radio stations that are tuned to maritime frequencies and linked to Maritime New Zealand’s Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) in Wellington. The Maritime Operations Centre also passes information to the INMARSAT satellite system.
The Maritime Operations Centre has trained radio operators who keep a 24-hour watch of all the stations in the radio network. The operators will respond to distress calls, handle trip reports and broadcast safety information.
They assist the Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand (RCCNZ) with communications. RCCNZ co-ordinates all major sea, air and land search and rescue missions within the New Zealand search and rescue regions.
Maritime New Zealand owns and maintain one third of the maritime radio network. The remainder is provided for and maintained by Kordia.
The radio service provided by Maritime New Zealand is complemented by a network of volunteer private radio operators from around New Zealand and islands offshore.
The private operators’ radio stations, including Coastguard radio, usually have people very familiar with their local area but most dont operate 24/7.
Using the maritime radio service – a guide for radio operators