DOC, Wildlife surveys, Historic maintenance and infrastructure sub Antarctic islands

Dear Henk

On behalf of the Southern Islands Area of the NZ Department of Conservation I would like to express our sincere thanks to you and the crew of the Research Vessel Tiama for the contribution you made over the last 10 years to our Subantarctic islands research and management programmes.

You have undertaken a wide range of projects for the Department from dropping off and picking up teams at some of the most isolated sites around New Zealand, including the Bounty and Antipodes Islands, to providing ongoing logistical support to longer duration programmes, often based on Tiama.

All of which have gone smoothly in no small part due to your seamanship and good planning. Forward planning and good communication have been crucial to ensure the safe undertaking of many of these projects and it has been a pleasure working closely with you.

You will appreciate that we have often been questioned about the suitability of a relatively small vessel such as the Tiama for undertaking these often difficult tasks in the southern ocean, and it reflects the accuracy of the initial safety audit we undertook on Tiama and yourself that there have been no major incidents during our charters and that teams invariably come back speaking highly of you.

The Tiama is a great boat for this work and the way that you operate her makes a excellent package that we hope to continue working with for many years. Your help and support along with the overall enthusiasm for and dedication to the work, willingness to go the extra mile; being flexible to the conditions, and general hospitality of the crew, have meant we achieved all our operational targets and has been much appreciated by all concerned.

Yours Sincerely
Pete McClelland
Programme Manager Outlying Islands Southern Islands Area
New Zealand Department of Conservation
27 January 2011

reference doc 2011 pete