But Van Tuel and Coastguard HB chairman Matt Harvey had no explanations for the increase.
There’s no disruption to service, with 9.5m back-up craft Joe Hawke Rescue having arrived to bridge the gap during the three months of the work.
Coastguard Hawke’s Bay rescue craft the Celia Knowles and relief boat the Joe Hawke Rescue, berthed at Meeanee Quay, Napier. Photo / Doug Laing
It comes in one of the biggest years all-round for the unit, which recently, with the help of local contractors, had to reroof its headquarters on Meeanee Quay, on the northern side of the Napier Inner Harbour.
The engine replacement, with the existing motor still in good working order, was an option preferred to a replacement of the craft, which could be expected in a further 10-15 years, at a cost of as much as $3 million.
“It is effectively recycling the boat, because it is quite sound,” van Tuel said.
The engine replacement gets underway, supported by $300,000 from a Coastguard NZ fund, but Harvey said other funding is still being sought, with a hoped-for sale of the existing engine also expected to help.
He said the other costs, and the increasing number of rescues and assists, highlighted the need for local support.
It came particularly with the initiative of his father, Bay Reroofing contractor Wayne Harvey, in joining forces with Stratco, Protrade Scaffolding and Konnect Fastening Systems to get the roofing done when the unit was facing such other costs.
The community effort meant the work was done within a few weeks, and Matt Harvey said: “Without it, we wouldn’t have had it done before winter.”
Doug Laing has been a reporter for 53 years, continuously based in Napier and Hastings since 1987, with the Napier Daily Telegraph and the Hawke’s Bay Today, covering most aspects of news events and issues in the region.