Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare welcome the deployment of five more DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys.

“We are pleased to deliver a lifesaving line of defence, built from the most advanced DART buoy tsunami detection technology available, to keep New Zealanders safe,” said Mr Peters.

“It was alarming to find the previous government had left New Zealanders wide open to potential catastrophe by relying on reporting from a single faulty DART buoy on the blink.”

“Given our place in the Pacific puts us at risk from many different tsunami sources, we had to act with serious urgency to secure our coastal regions.”

“These DART buoys will undoubtedly save lives as detecting a tsunami early allows us to provide immediate warnings through a range of communications channels including Emergency Mobile Alerts,” Mr Peters said.

The DART buoy network will provide ongoing tsunami monitoring and detection information for New Zealand and Pacific countries, including Tokelau, Niue, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

“New Zealand is always among the first to offer support to our Pacific partners in the wake of a natural disaster. Mr Peters said.

“Tsunamis can be devastating for our communities, including those in the Pacific, not only due to the death and destruction they cause but through widespread economic damage that can take years to recover from.”

The NIWA research vessel RV Tangaroa left on its month-long deployment this Friday 28 August.

“The Coalition Government is further delivering on its promise to establish the comprehensive DART buoy network to protect New Zealanders and our Pacific neighbours by ensuring the right tools are in place to detect a tsunami at the earliest opportunity,” Mr Henare said.

“The network will be completed in 2021, with the last three DART Buoys to be deployed near the New Hebrides Trench to monitor tsunami sources near New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands,” Mr Henare said.

Additional information about the DART buoys is available here.

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