Source: Radio New Zealand
A state-of-the-art upgrade at the national Maritime Operations Centre is expected to boost its response to mayday calls.
“When somebody gets in trouble and they call up and they want someone at the other end of the line, that’s us,” said Kordia chief executive Neil Livingston.
Manned 24/7 by communications network Kordia, the Lower Hutt-based MOC provides meteorological information, navigational warnings and ionospheric predictions. But it also acts as the first port of call for those in distress.
Maritime Operations Centre. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
It covers about 30 million square kilometres – an area that extends from the mid-Tasman Sea to halfway to Chile and from the South Pole almost up to the Equator.
It’s one of the largest search and rescue regions in the world.
MOC manger Brendan Comerford said over the past 30 years they’d answered about 27,000 calls for assistance involving over 90,000 people.
That network is now nearly halfway through an upgrade to make it more resilient and future-proof it for the next decade.
“It’s a full upgrade, everything from the communications network to the electronics through to the tools that the operators use,” said Livingston.
“It’s very state-of-the-art.”
MOC Manger Brendan Comerford . RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Upgrade includes AI
Livingston said the upgrade, which included AI, would “really enhance the service”.
“One of the brilliant things that AI does, is it can monitor and when you’ve got hundreds or even thousands of alarms happening, it can condense all those in two or three, which are the really important ones that the operators can focus on.”
But he was very clear AI would not be replacing their operators any time soon.
“It’s assisting the human, it’s not replacing the human. That’s a very core fundamental of how we use AI in these kind of environments.”
Increased resilience
The operation center. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Comerford said just about every element of the network was being replaced.
“You’re going to have new radios on every VHF site. You’ve got a new platform that will be supported into the future. You’ve got a full refurbishment of our long-range, high-frequency sites in the middle of the North Island, including the major antennas,” he said.
“That will give us another good 10 plus years of resilience in the network.”
Livingston said part of the upgrade was also about lifting capacity.
He said during events like Cyclone Gabrielle the Kordia network, which has towers that use microwave radio links rather than fibre, was still able to run, using generators.
He said the upgrade would build on that capacity.
Comerford said in the event of a disaster they would also be able to quickly relocate the centre of operations if required.
“In the event that there’s a major civil emergency in New Zealand, we could basically shift the centre to, for instance, a motel conference room.”
Livingston said for the person calling mayday there won’t be any noticeable difference between the upgraded system and the legacy one.
“They themselves won’t see or hear anything, but what it does is it gives our operators more information to be able to help them more effectively and efficiently. So the outcome is going to be better.”
The upgrade is expected to be completed by June 2029.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
