New data compiled by Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) shows Kiwis are taking safety seriously as greater numbers head outdoors.
RCCNZ Deputy Manager Operations, Neville Blakemore, says distress beacon registrations in December 2020 were up almost 30 percent on the previous year, with more than 2000 registered.
The range of beacon use was demonstrated in one day recently, when RCCNZ responded to five beacon alerts encompassing – two people clinging to an up-turned dinghy; a person in a Kahurangi National Park hut who had had a medical event; a motor-cyclist who had crashed his motorcycle in the hills north of Naseby; a person who had become violently unwell on the Hump Track; and a tramper who had become isolated and disoriented on the Te Araroa Trail.
Read more here:
https://www.miragenews.com/beacon-registrations-rise-as-more-kiwis-take-to-507707/