New Zealand invests millions in maritime digital transformation
The government of New Zealand has made millions of dollars available to develop high-tech navigational products that will transform shipping in the country’s waters. The Maritime Digital Transformation (MDT) initiative aims to revolutionize how mariners interact with data such as electronic charts, water depth information, ocean surface currents and navigational warnings.
Mariners will benefit from enhanced safety, along with improved fuel efficiency and more optimized routing, thanks to these new digital products. To deliver this, LINZ (Land Information New Zealand) and Maritime NZ are working together to roll out the solutions over the next four years. The investment amounts to approximately US$17.5 million.
Joint responsibility for safe navigation
The New Zealand Hydrographic Authority, which sits within LINZ, is responsible for navigation products, including up-to-date nautical charts in New Zealand waters, areas of Antarctica and the south-west Pacific, as well as tidal and bathymetric (ocean depth) data.
Maritime NZ is the national regulatory, compliance and response agency overseeing the safety, security and environmental protection of New Zealand’s coastal and inland waterways. It issues navigational warnings to seafarers across a 50 million square kilometre area as part of the World-Wide Navigational Warning Service.
LINZ and Maritime NZ share responsibility for ensuring that New Zealand meets its obligations under the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), including keeping up with global navigation standards. Through the MDT programme, LINZ and Maritime NZ will work together to implement the new international safety standard S-100, set by the International Hydrographic Organization. The S-100 standard is part of a wider global shift towards eNavigation.
