Maritime New Zealand is a Crown entity

Crown entities

A Crown entity is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute...

 responsible for protecting the maritime environment within New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and maintaining safety and security.

They define their vision as: "a maritime environment with minimum deaths, accidents, incidents and pollution as part of an integrated and sustainable transport system”.

History

A maritime authority called the Marine Board was originally established in 1862 and controlled by the Customs Department

New Zealand Customs Service

The Customs Service is a state sector organisation of New Zealand whose role is to provide border control and protect the community from potential risks arising from international trade and travel, as well as collecting duties and taxes on imports to the country. New Zealand's Minister of Customs...

 until near the end of the nineteenth century, when it was renamed the Marine Department.

In 1907 the Marine Department acquired the 805 ton Royal Navy gun boat HMS Sparrow

HMS Sparrow

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sparrow, after the sparrow:* HMS Sparrow was a pink captured in 1653 and sold in 1659....

. This was converted into a training ship and renamed NZS Amokura

NZS Amokura

HMS Sparrow was a Redbreast-class gunboat launched in 1889, the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She became the New Zealand training ship NZS Amokura in 1906 and was sold in 1922.-Design:...

. Over the next 14 years 527 boys trained in Amokura, 25 of them going on to naval service and most of the others into the merchant marine.

In 1972 the Marine Department was absorbed into the Ministry of Transport. In 1993 a Crown entity was established and called the Maritime Safety Authority before being subsequently rebranded as Maritime New Zealand in July 2005.

Current structure

The current entity employs approximately 140 staff. It is managed by a five member board appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand

Governor-General of New Zealand

The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....

 (on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport) and has its remit defined by the Maritime Transport Act 1994

Maritime Transport Act 1994

-External links:**...

.
One of its key responsibilities is the operation and maintenance of the lighthouses

Lighthouses in New Zealand

This is a list of lighthouses in New Zealand. There are 23 active lighthouses in New Zealand and a further 74 Light Beacons all operated and maintained by Maritime New Zealand....

around New Zealand's coastline.