Last watch for Auckland's harbourmaster

For nearly two decades James McPetrie has been in command of Auckland's harbour, writes ROBIN BAILEY.

Harbourmaster James McPetrie has ended his watch as the man responsible for almost everything maritime in the region and is "pretty satisfied" with what has been achieved during his term.

He came to the job from the old Auckland Harbour Board, where he had been senior supervisor of moorings after ending a 25-year career in the Royal Navy in 1985.

That job gave him a hands-on understanding of how the port worked and a good knowledge of the wide-ranging recreational aspects needed to cater for our huge boating population. His role also saw him build up an effective network among those responsible for the successful day-to-day operation of the country's biggest port.

Consequently McPetrie was in the right place at the right time in 1996 when the harbour board became the Ports of Auckland company and the job of harbourmaster was devolved to the Auckland Regional Council. The traditional harbourmaster role of supervising the comings and goings of commercial shipping stayed with the port company.

The new harbourmaster's job was to set up the first ARC maritime operations unit.

"There were bylaws covering behaviour of people using the waters of the wider Hauraki Gulf and the Waitemata and Manukau harbours," he says.

"But there had really been no way of enforcing them. In the late 80s the Tamaki River was like a shooting gallery with boats all over the place and at all sorts of speeds.

"Our job was to draft new regulations for the council with the accent on safety and the objective of encouraging the safe enjoyment of the water. We started with just two former AHB staffers as maritime officers. Today there are four and the harbourmaster and our role has developed to one that puts the accent on education rather than enforcement."

Two America's Cup regattas demonstrated that the environment created by McPetrie's ARC team and the other agencies responsible for running such huge events was exactly right. There were no major incidents despite the huge number of boats on the race courses.

McPetrie says the experience gained in the lead-up years to the first cup regatta handling Whitbread and Volvo stopovers provided a good basis from which to plan for the first defence and that was fine-tuned for the second. His team regards as equally important coping with regular events on the harbour ranging from offshore powerboat races to fishing contests.

"We are also responsible for handling environmental hazards including oil spills and large ship bunkering incidents," he says.

"The team has to be ready for a different challenge every day and we must be pro-active in managing the recreational use of the harbour. That includes events as diverse as masters cross-harbour swims to waka and outrigger competitions."

He adds that forming the Harbour Users' Group has effectively catered for the needs of both professional and recreation sectors making it easier to co-ordinate on-the-water activities "to ensure we don't have powerboat races cutting through yachting courses as has happened in the past".

McPetrie sees the July 1 introduction of the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) code as a major undertaking that has New Zealand ports - and Auckland in particular - on track to meet all the requirements of the covenant that will apply to ports around the world.

He also believes greater use of the harbour could ease transport problems. "The money that has been spent already on the eastern corridor studies could have paid for some strategic wharves to enable the ferry links to be expanded," he says.

"The hugely successful Half Moon Bay experience is proof that people will get out of their cars if there is a regular alternative service. We just need to get the infrastructure in place that includes safe parking and shelter and we don't need roads. Modern ferries are fast, comfortable and affordable. The harbour should be our highway."