Water users in the Otago Region are now served by Steve Rushbrook, a full time professional harbourmaster, based in Dunedin. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/harbourmaster-ready-role

As one of the Navigatus team who led the delivery of harbourmaster services over the last year, I’m pleased to see Steve commence work. We were involved in Steve’s recruitment from London, and are well through the handover process.

Harbourmaster Services

Since mid 2016 Kevin Oldham and Geraint Bermingham have helped manage maritime safety risks in Otago.

When we first started providing interim harbourmaster services I was told that “nothing happens”. We quickly found that not to be the case. Since then we’ve dealt with fires, groundings, incidents and tragedies on vessels large and small.

While our remit excludes the busy Queenstown Lakes area and Lake Dunstan, Otago is a big region with lots of marine and inland waters.  So it’s not a surprise that incidents can occur. We’ve learned from each incident and are applying the lessons leaned to help water users be safer.

Lately we’ve been translating that knowledge into new management systems and into planning for a new Otago Region bylaw. In doing that we’ve been greatly assisted by informal input and comment from water user groups on issues that they see.

We’re providing ongoing backup to Steve, allowing him to focus on settling in and getting on with the new role.