the Allied victory by the Merchant Navy: 'the 4th Service'. I also wonder how many people in the Merchant Navy today know about and value this history as 'their history'. As I speak to people, I sense that to many of them Maritime New Zealand is nothing more than a regulatory bureaucracy established in 2005. Some though, may see our genesis going as far back as 1993 when the Maritime Safety Authority was set up.
However, we are more than this and can lay claim to a history that stretches back to the early days of colonisation and the establishment of the Marine Board of New Zealand in 1862.
Its principal responsibilities were related to the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, which were of absolutely vital importance.
In the first 50 years of colonisation over 1000 ships were wrecked; including the Orpheus on February 7, 1863 with the loss of 189 lives, the Tararua on April 29–30, 1881 with 131 deaths, and the Wairarapa, which on October 29, 1894 ran into cliffs on Great Barrier Island resulting in the deaths of 121 passengers and crew.
Rummaging through the 'net', I found a copy of the Report on the Marine Board Department of New Zealand by the PostMaster General. The report is one, On the Lighthouse system of the Colony, and the inspection of steamers for the
Complaints have been made of what are termed the high and unequal rates of lighthouse charges
year 1864, together with the second Report of the Marine Board, embracing the same period.
Given the work we have done on the Funding Review, and in particular conversations around levies, and the impending introduction of MOSS, and the position of surveyors, I thought the following extracts from this report were especially interesting:
"Complaints have been made of what are termed the high and unequal rates of lighthouse charges. In regard to the first of these complaints, it may be urged that the receipts from lighthouses fall far short of the expenditure incurred; and when the decreased rates of insurance, the greater quickness of passage, and saving of fuel are taken into consideration, it may be said that the charges for lighthouse dues are amply re-paid to the ship owner …it is proposed to re-model its (the Board's) construction by the appointment of a scientific engineer… (who)…would be assisted in his duties by two surveyors for the examination of steam vessels, who would have to undergo, before appointment, a thorough examination." Ah, history. It provides the one of the key foundations from which we are able to launch the ascent on the mountain that is our organisational aspiration; and it delivers some lovely moments of irony. A final thought on the importance of history and the 'power' that is inherent in us valuing 'our' history. On behalf of Maritime New Zealand, I congratulate the Interislander team on reaching their 'first 50', and on the 'sense of history' that characterises their celebrations of this milestone.
November/December 2012 Professional Skipper 29
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