Serious questions are being asked after the Coastguard was unable to mobilise when a whitebaiter drowned after being swept into the sea at Rapahoe on Wednesday.
The Coastguard has not had any capability for 18 months since the rescue boat Ivan Talley II was knocked out of action in a disastrous bar crossing at Greymouth.
While the presence of a rescue vessel was unlikely to have changed the outcome, questions are being asked as to what happens next time.
Kotuku Surf Lifesaving responded to the call from Rapahoe, but as volunteers came from as far as Hokitika it was soon stood down.
West Coast Coastguard has re-formed after the bar incident, which resulted in all crew on board being injured. Ivan Talley II has since been written off.
A replacement training vessel has been earmarked for Greymouth for some time now but has been held up by transport logistics on the route from Northland.
The re-formed Coastguard committee is now chaired by Keely Langdon-Lane, who said on Wednesday they were "pretty frustrated" with the rescue vessel situation.
"There is nothing we can do really. We are trying to get everything in place so when a boat does turn up we have some capacity — we’re working on a plan for that. We don’t want to go into this half-ready. We are just trying to get it right."
Secretary Mark Bolland agreed — "it’s a desperate situation".
"Regardless of what happens we have to build the strength of the unit first. It will take people and money and skills. We need a lot more help, which will have to come from the community, and we need a boat to start off with.
"We are at that point we are waiting for the new boat so we can start training."
He said the Mahutonga training rescue vessel was difficult to transport here.
"We are taking it one step at a time, and Coastguard NZ are talking to us and supporting us. We do need urgency.
"It’s long-term planning to build it up and get it right, and that may take time."
Hundreds of recreational fishermen flocked to Greymouth en masse during hoki season hunting bluefin tuna, with some demonstrating a bold approach to the notorious Grey River bar, to which a local fisherman said "if anything happens, there’s nothing", in reference to rescue efforts.
Coastguard New Zealand has been approached for comment.
- By Meg Fulford
