The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with a New Zealand business for a service to improve New Zealand’s maritime awareness.
A project for improved protection against maritime threats received $14.6 million in funding in Budget 24, and Cabinet has approved the final business case.
After an extensive international search, a contract for a subscription to a cloud-based platform is being awarded to New Zealand company Starboard Maritime Intelligence. According to the Ministry of Defence announcement, the system will provide a real-time picture of what is happening in New Zealand’s extensive maritime domain and provide a global history of arriving vessels.
“Starboard is a New Zealand technology success story. It is a spin-off from a company which received MBIE funding as a regional research institute and is now offering a service that will benefit not only Defence, but all of New Zealand,” Sarah Minson, Deputy Secretary Capability Delivery at the Ministry of Defence said.
The platform will increase New Zealand’s ability to detect and respond to malicious activity, natural disasters and potentially hostile vessels including illegal fishing, in our exclusive economic zone and across the Pacific. It will be used by multiple government agencies.
“Immensely proud of the Starboard team,” stated Starboard Chair Maria King on LinkedIn. “NZ has an extensive maritime domain and plays a significant role across the Pacific – we’re excited to support our govt agencies to generate unique insight on maritime activity and thereby have an indirect positive impact on the sector.”
This project responds to the need – as outlined in New Zealand’s Maritime Security Strategy – for continued and improved maritime domain awareness as essential for the security and prosperity of the country.
The system will make use of existing, global commercial feeds as well as specific New Zealand Government datasets in order to assess what is occurring in our maritime domain. The capability will be managed by the National Maritime Coordination Centre (NMCC) and the platform will be up and running immediately.
