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New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Media Release
Friday 14 August, 2009
Navy Ship Returns Home After No Sign Of Missing Vessel

After receiving a MAYDAY call at 0130 am this morning, the third of four new Navy Inshore Patrol Vessels, HMNZS PUKAKI, joined the search for a missing vessel, ‘East Coaster’ in the vicinity of the Hen and Chicken Islands. It was reported that the vessel, with four people onboard was in a distressed state and taking on water

After an extensive search by HMNZS PUKAKI, a local coastguard vessel and an aircraft, nothing has been found and, to date, there have been no reports of any missing persons to the New Zealand Police.

Due to the deteriorating weather, HMNZS PUKAKI is currently escorting the Coastguard vessel back to Whangarei before proceeding home to the Devonport Naval Base.

ENDS

Background on HMNZS PUKAKI - P3568

Specifications:

Displacement: 340 tonnes
Length Overall: 55 metres
Beam: 9 metres
Speed: 25 knots
Range: 3,000 nautical miles

Complement: Core ship's company: 20
Government agencies: 4
Additional personnel: 12
Total: 36

Homeport Affiliation – Nelson/Marlborough
Commanding Officer – Lieutenant John McQueen (North Shore)

Narrative Ship Data of the In Shore Patrol Vessels

The IPVs are versatile vessels capable of multi-agency operations in support of national security tasks. At 55 metres long and with a contracted 3000-nautical mile range (although the sea trials show that the range is likely to be in the region of 7000nm which is double the contracted requirement), they will contribute significantly to the patrolling of New Zealand’s 15,000km coastline, and our Exclusive Economic Zone out to 200 nautical miles. The primary role of the IPVs will be patrol and response to maritime security incidents within the inshore zone around New Zealand.

In addition to patrolling, an IPVs tasks will include surveillance, response and boarding operations, and search and rescue. Secondary roles for the IPVs will be in New Zealand disaster relief and defence aid to the civil community. The IPVs will have a complement of 20 naval personnel and four Government agency officers. They also have the capacity to host 12 additional personnel onboard for general naval training or other duties.

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