In 2024/25, 25 incidents, accidents or mishaps in Waitaha Canterbury were reported to Maritime New Zealand. Over the previous four years, the number of incidents has been variable ranging from 21 incidents in 2021/22 to 44 incidents in 2022/23, and 39 incidents in 2023/24.
In 2024/25, there were no recreational boating fatalities in Waitaha Canterbury. Over the previous seven years, there have been nine recreational boating fatalities in Waitaha Canterbury.
Why are we measuring this?
Waitaha Canterbury makes up 12 per cent of New Zealand’s waterways, so water safety is important, especially in a region with easy access to rivers, lakes and the coast. Our Harbourmaster’s Office is responsible for managing all maritime-related activities up to 12 nautical miles offshore that may affect the navigational safety of vessels on Canterbury’s waterways.
This work includes monitoring the operation of cruise ships and commercial ships, and managing swing moorings, plus a wide range of recreational boating activities – that’s everything from kayaking to jet boating, sailing to stand-up paddleboarding.
How do we measure the result?
This measure is the number of navigational safety incidents, accidents and mishaps within Environment Canterbury's harbourmaster jurisdiction that have been reported to Maritime New Zealand in accordance with the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
During 2025/26 reporting, we revised how this measure is calculated. Previously, it counted every incident, accident and mishap reported to Maritime New Zealand for Waitaha Canterbury during the financial year, without reviewing individual records. A review of the data with the Harbourmaster's Office found that this approach included events outside the Harbourmaster's navigational safety responsibilities. These included incidents that occurred while a vessel was at berth or on port land, which are the responsibility of the vessel's master or the port operator. The data also contained duplicate entries for the same incident.
Each record is now reviewed, and only navigational safety incidents within the Harbourmaster's jurisdiction are counted. Duplicate entries are removed. The 2024/25 result has been restated on this basis.
On 1 July 2024, Maritime New Zealand became the main health and safety regulator for New Zealand’s 13 major ports – both on land and on ships. Notifications of incidents and accidents in these ports were received by Maritime New Zealand from this date and are included in their reporting summary. This data includes navigational safety incidents along with any other kind of maritime incident that occurs on water or land.
What work have we undertaken to contribute to this outcome?
The Harbourmaster’s Office has a comprehensive work programme to support the navigational safety of commercial shipping and recreational boating.
We also operate under the New Zealand Port and Harbour Marine Safety Code, which provides measures for the safe management of ships in ports and harbours. It includes mitigations to prevent serious harm to people and the protection of the marine environment.
Within Waitaha Canterbury, the code applies to vessels greater than 40m long or greater than 500 tonnes in the following areas:
- Lyttelton and Timaru Pilotage Areas
- Kaikōura Peninsula
- Akaroa Harbour
- Coastal waters.
In these areas, we’ve completed detailed risk assessments covering both commercial vessel operations and any recreational vessel activities that may have an impact on those operations. We also have a Safety Management System in place that applies to all waterways across the region and coastal areas to the 12 nautical mile limit.
On top of that, we run seasonal safety campaigns and help coordinate local boating events – all with the goal to ensure safer recreational boating and improved safety awareness on the water.
