Wellington maritime police trial slashing hours: ‘It will cost lives’
Friday, 31 October 2025
A Wellington fisherman of decades warns that a decision to slash the rostered hours of the city’s rapid-response police maritime unit will cost lives.
The Wellington police maritime unit currently runs a 24-hour service with shifts from 7am to 11pm on weekdays and 9am to 10pm on weekends, with an on-call service outside those hours able to be on the water in police launch Lady Elizabeth IV within 15 minutes of getting an emergency call.
Changes, coming on December 1, will cut the hours to 8am to 6pm. Police say an on-call service will operate outside those times but could not say how fast this would be.
“In the maritime community in Wellington I haven’t heard from anyone who thinks it is a good idea,” a well-placed source said.
The Wellington maritime unit is a fast-response police unit for sea-based emergencies, be it container ship the Shiling listing in heavy seas off Farewell Spit, the Kaitaki drifting powerless with 864 people aboard, a boat bursting into flames off the Wellington south coast or a woman overboard on the harbour ferry – all incidents in the past four years.
Inspector Pat Thomas said the changes were a trial over summer to better respond to peak demand times and provide responses, including overnight.
“Police has consulted with our maritime partners about this trial, which will be reviewed at its conclusion.”
Wellington commercial fisherman Tony Muollo, a fisherman of more than 40 years, said the police maritime unit was the most professional and competent he had worked with.
“The worst things happen in the dark,” he said. “They are worth their weight in gold. It will cost lives.”
The Cook Strait was one of the worst stretches of water in the world and a 24-seven, staffed and professional rescue team was needed.
“It doesn’t sleep,” he said.
Matt Fabish, owner of Wellington-based Underwater Solutions, said tough questions would be asked when a ship sank within reach of the maritime police launch and nobody was on staff to respond. He understood the cuts were to save money.
“They are our fire, ambulance all in one. We live on one of the worst stretches of water with the Cook Strait …
“This will leave the Wellington region with no quick response to any marine event [during night] hours,” he said.
“Only the coastguard will be available who are volunteer and their response time is slow and they are not equipped to tow even moderately sized vessels.”
A Coastguard New Zealand spokesperson said the changes may mean more callouts during the evening, but police would co-ordinate any response and provide experts.
“Our dedicated volunteers remain on-call 24/7, ready to respond and assist those on the water whenever needed,” the spokesperson said.
“In the event of an emergency, we will continue to work closely with the police and Maritime New Zealand to ensure a co-ordinated and effective response.”
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder was yet to get full details but said he was “interested” to see how police would make the new times work.
“It does raise some concerns because the maritime unit and Lady Elizabeth is a very valuable and important asset to Wellington and Cook Strait.”
The changes could put pressure on volunteers and commercial operators to fill the gap, he said.
Maritime NZ, in an emailed statement, confirmed it was aware of the changes but said police had given assurance search and rescue capability would be available when needed.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the police maritime unit would continue to provide 24-hour coverage in Wellington.
“Police is a 24/7 response agency, and will continue to provide coverage in line with public expectations. Specific rostering decisions are an operational matter for police, and they will make these decisions in line with the demand they are seeing,” he said.
Water Safety NZ chief executive Gavin Walker said 10 people had died in craft-related incidents in the past decade in Wellington. One was at night but it was not known how many night rescues the Wellington unit made in that time.