Safer Boating NZ: Coastguard Radio Interception

New Zealand boaties are a stubborn group who often ignore safety messages. Maritime New Zealand wanted to educate boaties, particularly males aged 35 and over, on the three key water safety rules.

But first, we had to get their attention.

Maritime New Zealand teamed up with Radio Hauraki, a station that began its life broadcasting illegally from international waters—the original radio pirates. We took the DJ’s back out on the ocean for an unmissable audio experience.

In a world first, we took our show onto the water and used VHF radio to communicate with the Coastguard—and the thousands of boaties out on the water.

Trip reports are traditionally made by captains as they head off on a voyage, so we used this channel to sneak in our three water safety messages. And being the pirates we are, we also used it to seamlessly promote the show.

By intercepting this traditionally used channel, we were able to make boaties really listen to the VHF emergency boat station, by the live broadcast, helping thousands of boaties come home safely.