Four people have been rescued after a boat capsized on the Raglan bar on Saturday morning.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand said a mayday call was made just after 10am on Saturday 1st November for a capsized vessel on the north side of the Raglan bar. Local surf lifeguards responded alongside the Coastguard and the four people were retrieved from the water and returned to shore.
Hate Hone St John also responded to the scene with one ambulance. Two people were in a moderate condition and two people were in a minor condition. All were assessed and treated at the scene, St John said.
In a social media post the local Coastguard gave a “huge thanks to the boating community who reacted swiftly and alerted authorities to the unfolding situation. It should also be said that the persons involved did everything right in terms of safety, they had logged a bar crossing, were wearing lifejackets, and activated their PLB”
They also said that the, “successful rescue is a credit to the quick thinking of nearby boaties and the preparedness of those involved.”
It has only been a few weeks since the three agencies cooperating for that emergency were part of a multi-agency training day along with the Police, RCCNZ and NZSAR for their annual Marine Search and Rescue Exercise in Whaingaroa.
Participants took part in both on-water operations and incident management exercises, culminating in a large-scale scenario within Raglan Harbour in last month’s exercise.
Also preparing for emergencies, the Whaingaroa Community Response Group met for their own training exercise in the church hall on Stewart St this weekend. The Response Group, which has been established to respond to civil defense emergencies, went through the exercise of setting up a welfare centre and establishing individual roles.
While Waikato District Council was on hand for advice, the purpose of the group, led by Gareth Bellamy is to ensure Whaingaroa can maintain a self sufficient local response for three days in the event of a civil defense emergency.
Trans-Tasman Resources attempts to mine the seabed off the Taranaki Coast has gathered more opponents with two prospective wind farm developers – Japanese-British consortium JERA Nex bp and the Taranaki Offshore Partnership, writing to the fast-track panel to oppose TTR’s application.
Not surprisingly TTR has disputed claims its project could render offshore wind farms in the same area unviable but JERA Nex bp have provided a new research report which found the impacts of the seabed mining project could last for thousands of years and make it impossible to build wind farms nearby.
Geotechnical consultancy firm Fugro, who wrote the report, have said that the sediment-filled pits that the mining would leave behind would be prone to liquefaction in a storm or earthquake and pose a risk to the planned wind farms off the West Coast.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton has also criticised TTR for providing an economic analysis that failed to take into account the damage the project will cause to the country’s natural capital and international reputation.