Search, rescue and on-water assistance
Coastguard New Zealand
New Zealand's volunteer marine search and rescue service.
Coastguard New Zealand is a charity crewed by volunteers operating rescue vessels from units around the coast. It answers assistance calls, maintains radio watch on marine VHF, and runs the trip report system that means a charter which goes quiet is noticed rather than assumed fine. Every BoardMyBoat charter departs with Coastguard as the first call for on-water assistance short of a life-threatening emergency.
What's included
- *500 assistance line from any mobile, at no cost to you as the guest.
- Radio watch on VHF Channel 16 and local unit channels while you are underway.
- Trip reports lodged before departure and closed on return, alongside your BoardMyBoat check-in.
- Search and rescue tasking if you fail to report in and cannot be raised.
How to use it
- Non-life-threatening assistance — call *500 from a mobile, or hail Coastguard on VHF Channel 16.
- Give the vessel name, your position, how many people are aboard and what has happened.
- Life-threatening emergency — call 111 and ask for Police, or broadcast MAYDAY on Channel 16 instead.
- Keep your onboard check-in running so the captain, crew and your emergency contact hold your live position.
Terms
- Assistance, not a guaranteed response time
- Coastguard units are crewed by volunteers and tasked according to urgency, sea state and unit availability. Neither Coastguard nor BoardMyBoat can promise a fixed response time, and a Coastguard callout is never a substitute for calling 111 when life is at risk.
- Membership and recovery costs
- Coastguard operates a membership scheme that covers certain assistance and recovery costs for member vessels. Where a chartered vessel is not covered by its own membership, recovery of that vessel is arranged and settled between BoardMyBoat and the operator under our towing commitment — you are not asked to pay at the towline.
- Your obligations aboard
- Life jackets carried for everyone aboard and worn as directed by the captain, two forms of waterproof communication, and a check of the marine forecast before departure. Assistance may be refused or delayed where a vessel has been taken outside the limits set for the charter.
Service details summarised from Coastguard New Zealand's public information. Coastguard is an independent charity and is not an agent of BoardMyBoat.