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World Hydrography Day

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DML Scholarship Winner – Ryan Lawson

We are thrilled to announce that Ryan Lawson from Mount Maunganui College is the deserving recipient of the Year 13 DML Earth, Environment, and Spatial Sciences Scholarship for 2024!At DML, we are inspired by Ryan's enthusiasm for further study and are excited to support him on his journey. We believe in fostering young talent and contributing to the growth of bright minds in the fields of Earth, Environment, and Spatial Sciences. Congratulations, Ryan! We can't wait to see all that you accompli...

Igniting Growth and Unity: DML's Dynamic Training Day Unveils a Year of Promise

Last week, DML embarked on its first training day of the year, creating a vibrant atmosphere where staff came together to discuss important topics related to health, safety, and overall well-being. Beyond the usual routine, these sessions serve as a way for both management and employees to connect on a deeper level.The day's schedule was filled with collaborative activities, including group brainstorming sessions that sparked a blend of creative ideas. These discussions weren't just about addres...

Virtual Field Trip

Calling all teachers! You can now sign your students up for the Toitu te Whenua Land Information New Zealand 2024 Geospatial Virtual Field Trip for schools with Learnz Online Field Trips, ‘What lies beneath? Discovering the secrets of our seabed’. The field trip launches on Monday 10 June and students will learn about seabed surveys, which allow us to build detailed 3D maps of the seafloor and provide valuable information about the marine environment. The field trip involves an exc...

Rescue Drills

Recently a small survey team took to Tauranga Harbour and practiced retrieving a live casualty from the water. Kevin volunteered to be our rescue dummy who ‘fell’ overboard 3 times with a variety of scenarios around using inflatable lifejackets and in varying states of consciousness. A few key learnings were discovered which would not have been possible without using the mass and bulk of a real person, and the value soon became clear as updates were made to key vessel documentation. “...

Congratulations Dillon!

Congratulations to Dillon Shields who was recently certified at Level 2 (CPHS2) by the Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP).  The AHSCP is jointly sponsored by S+SNZ in NZ and the Geospatial Council of Australia. It undertakes the professional assessment and certification of hydrographic surveyors In Australasia.  Dillon's experience and track record in the RNZN, combined with his recent heavy involvement in LINZ nautical charting and NZ port surveys has cont...

Hydrography - Geospatial Virtual Field Trip

New Zealand’s Tatai Aho Rau LEARNZ, Toitu Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand and Discovery Marine Ltd have created a Geospatial Virtual Field Trip (VFT) for schools. The VFT is based on the LINZ HS76 Approaches to Gisborne Hydrographic Survey that has the title ‘What lies beneath?  Discovering the secrets of our seabed’ - https://www.learnz.org.nz/mapping241 The emphasis on seabed mapping and its contribution to marine navigation and environmental management aligns closely wi...

Gisborne Survey Open Day

Gisborne District Council, LINZ and Discovery Marine (DML) recently held an open day to raise awareness of the Approaches to Gisborne Hydrographic Survey (HS76) currently underway in Turanganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay, New Zealand.Kevin, Jimmy and DML’s Surveyor In Charge, Bevan Waller attended along with about 50 people from around the region, including two school groups from Whangara School and Gisborne Boys High School. It was fantastic to see huge interest from the next generation of leaders on...

Welcome to DML

This month James “Pinchy” Pinchin joined the DML team as Compliance Lead after a move from H&S Management in the construction industry. James holds postgraduate qualifications in Occupational Safety and Emergency Management, with additional maritime experience as an Inshore Launch Master & Regional Coastguard Instructor. When he isn’t at work, you’ll usually find him out and about with his wife Sarah and two young kids. Together they love camping, mountain biking, sailing & k...

Congratulations Bevan Waller, Certified Professional Surveyor Level 1 (CPHS1)

Congratulations to Bevan Waller who was awarded his Certified Professional Surveyor Level 1 (CPHS1) accreditation at the recent AHS seminar.  The professional assessment and certification of hydrographic surveyors is conducted through the Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP), which is jointly sponsored by the Geospatial Council and Survey + Spatial New Zealand. CPHS1 certification is the official recognition that an individual possesses the necessary knowledge to ...

DML Inaugural Hydrographic Scholarship

In June Hydro Stream members Jimmy Van der Pauw and Declan Stubbing from Discovery Marine Ltd (DML) announced the new DML Hydrographic Survey Scholarship for students studying hydrographic surveying at the University of Otago. DML are pleased to announce that the inaugural scholarship was awarded to Ryan Slattery at the recent Australasian Hydrographic Society (AHS) Seminar Day in Dunedin. Ryan is picture below with Declan and AHS Chair Bradly Cooper....

Bruce Wallen Retires

Congratulations to Bruce Wallen who has retired after 46 years in the hydrographic profession. Bruce started his career in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in 1977, surveying much, if not most, of the coast of NZ. Bruce held positions at LINZ and Discovery Marine Limited over his career and  served as the Chair of the Hydrographic Professional Stream (HPS) at S+SNZ between 2013 and 2017. He was instrumental in building a business plan for the Hydrographic Stream as well as helping to adopt...

Welcome to DML

This week Oliver “Olli” Rogers joined the DML team as a Senior Hydrographic Surveyor after working on the LINZ HS75 Approaches to Napier nautical charting survey as a contractor. Olli has an MSc in Hydrography CAT A, Post Grad Cert GIS, BA Hons and is progressing his application towards CPHSL1.  A keen surfer and water polo player he recently moved with his partner Gemma and two dogs from Paignton in the UK. His outdoor interests have already seen him enjoying the beaches around Taurang...

Congratulations to Ana-Marie Conroy

DML would like to congratulate Ana-Marie Conroy, one of DML’s young hydrographic surveyors, who recently achieved her New Zealand Certificate in Hydrographic Surveying Level 4. Ana joined us in 2022 and immediately began working towards her NZCHS.  Ana has been out testing her understanding of tides and geodetics recently, managing a tide gauge calibration project for Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). When combined with her 5 years’ experience as an RNZN Naval H...

LINZ HS57 Approaches to Napier Survey Delivered

DML recently delivered The Approaches to Napier Hydrographic Survey (HS75) to Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). Kate Downes, Surveyor In Charge (SIC) delivered 8 Tb of data which included raw data, bathymetric surfaces, water column data, backscatter imagery and numerous reports. The data will be used to update nautical charting products in the region.  Data capture and fieldwork for this project was conducted from October to November 2022 and consisted of 390 sound...

Pohnpei Port Development – Federated States of Micronesia

March 2023 saw a three-person team from DML deploy to the island of Pohnpei within the Federated States of Micronesia. The team was there to undertake a hydrographic survey for Tonkin and Taylor. The survey is just one component of a project for the development of the port.As with most of our projects abroad, the biggest hurdles encountered were the logistics of flights, obtaining a survey boat and travelling with survey equipment. In this case our vessel was provided by Pohnpei Surf and Dive Cl...

Mount Everest Challenge

The DML team has been very busy over the past seven weeks, not just keeping up with our summer fieldwork season, but also partaking in the 2023 Mount Everest Challenge. The challenge involves walking/running/crawling up Mauao (Mount Maunganui) 38 times in 50 days, equivalent in height to the 8,849m summit of Mount Everest.This year the Mount Everest Challenge is raising funds for local charity ‘Live for More’, an organisation that empowers disengaged youth to make positive changes in their l...

Women in Hydrography

In January DML hosted the inaugural recipients of the DML, OI and LINZ co-sponsored Women in Hydrography experience. Eliza McCracken from University of Canterbury and Sophie Clayton from University of Otago joined the DML team, getting a taste of what life is like at a Hydrographic Surveying company. Their experience included time onboard DML’s survey vessel TUPAIA undertaking surveys for the Port of Tauranga. DML thanks Eliza and Sophie for their enthusiasm and interest in the hydrographic su...

Cyclone Gabrielle Port Surveys

It’s been a busy few weeks for DML providing emergency support for our North Island Port Clients following the devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.  DML mobilised vessels to Port of Tauranga, Port of Napier and Northport for emergency survey work ensuring the ports and critical supply chains remain open. Logistically the Northport and Napier surveys proved a challenge due to road closures and traffic delays, lack of accommodation, power, fuel and food.  With the Hawke’s B...

DML Scholarship Winner – Will Fraser

DML is pleased to announce that William (Will) Fraser, from Mount Maunganui College, has been awarded the Year 13 DML Earth, Environment and Spatial Sciences Scholarship for 2022. The scholarship recognises Will’s excellence and diligence in one or more subjects associated with science and engineering.As a company we are encouraged to see Will pursuing his studies in engineering mechatronics at Canterbury University so that he may increase his knowledge, abilities, and skills through further e...

In Water Survival

The DML team recently completed the Royal New Zealand Boating Education In Water Survival Course for small boat operations. Apart from getting very wet they all got to experience what it was like to be in the water in full PPE and still trying to stay afloat. Being winter, the course was held in a nice warm swimming pool which made the wet drills somewhat enjoyable. Everyone and learnt the pros and cons of flotation devices, swimming with life jackets while fully clothed, minimising heat loss in...

Congratulations Hayes, Kate and Rian!

Congratulations to Hayes Ballantyne, Kate Downes and Rian Mayhead who were recently certified at Level 2 (CHPS2) by the Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP).  The AHSCP is jointly sponsored by S+SNZ in NZ and SSSI in Australia and undertakes the professional assessment and certification of hydrographic surveyors In Australasia.  All three have recently been involved in nautical charting surveys for LINZ and are now building their portfolio of work and in char...

Hydrographic Excellence Award 2022

Congratulations to Jimmy Van Der Pauw for being awarded the Survey and Spatial Hydrography Award 2022 for outstanding service to the industry. This award aims to recognise hydrographic project/s and field work that reflect hydrographic excellence, and which deliver hydrographic best practice, either ashore or afloat. The award was presented at the 2022 Spatial Excellence Awards black tie dinner event in Rotorua during the annual S+SNZ annual conference in Rotorua....

Relaxing at the cricket

After a busy 6 months in the field a few of the DML survey team took time out this week to enjoy the Holland versus New Zealand T20 cricket test at the Bay Oval. The evening event was held in stunning early autumn conditions. The Bay Oval is only 650m from DML's offices and is hard to avoid when the New Zealand team is playing. Also hard to avoid are the amazing hot dogs which our team were inadvertently munching on when the TVNZ camera's panned through the crowd! ...

LINZ Bluff and Stewart Island Survey - Fieldwork Complete

DML deployed TRANQUIL IMAGE to Southland in January 2022 to undertake fieldwork for the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ, https://www.linz.govt.nz/sea  ) Bluff and Stewart Island Hydrographic Survey (HS69)....