The Lake Taupō harbourmaster has clarified its role in rescue operations with Fire and Emergency New Zealand, following an incident in which FENZ struggled to make contact while searching for a teenager who had jumped from a burning boat shortly before Christmas.
The 14-year-old had been left in charge of the vessel when it caught fire and jumped overboard. The harbourmaster later assisted in the search.
Internal message logs showed that from the outset, FENZ communications indicated to police that "maritime would be lead, harbour master would be first." Within eight minutes of receiving the initial alert from Kinloch at 6.38pm on 21 December, Fire and Emergency was telling police it was "attempting to contact Lake Taupō harbourmaster, no success."
Three separate phone numbers were tried in succession, with the first two going to voicemail. It took a quarter of an hour to get through, and the person who answered turned out not to be the on-call harbourmaster. That staff member advised that the on-call harbourmaster would have been notified via pager.
The message log records that at 6.56pm FENZ was "attempting a 3rd number" for the harbourmaster, getting through two minutes later. Just after 7pm, police also "spoke to Taupō Harbourmaster to make him aware of the event," according to the log. Around the same time, police stood down a rescue helicopter, then reactivated it twenty minutes later. It was that helicopter which located the boy.
Richard Ward of Internal Affairs, the agency responsible for overseeing the lake's harbourmaster, said the harbourmaster had begun responding within five minutes of the first call being made to Fire and Emergency. A harbourmaster spokesperson confirmed they had moved quickly once alerted.
Following the incident, a debrief was held and procedures for all lake emergencies were "re-clarified" among the agencies involved. Ward was clear about the boundaries of the harbourmaster's role: "The Taupō harbourmaster is not a first responder and does not lead emergency responses relating to fire, medical emergencies, or search and rescue."
Ward confirmed the harbourmaster held no formal Memoranda of Understanding with either Fire and Emergency or police. "However, there are established working relationships and shared understandings with local first responder agencies. The harbourmaster remains available to provide assistance where appropriate and when requested by lead agencies," he said.
The Auckland harbourmaster noted it was in a comparable position, operating without formal MOUs with FENZ or police, though it described having "great relationships" with both organisations.
The statutory responsibilities of the Lake Taupō harbourmaster centre on navigational safety and managing maritime risk, including responding to regional marine oil and fuel spills and coordinating maritime safety following sinkings, groundings, or collisions that pose a hazard to other water users.
