Recreational boating research

Maritime NZ undertakes a number of different items of research to understand the behaviours, risk factors and latest figures and statistics on recreational boating in New Zealand.

Maritime NZ supports the principles of New Zealand’s open government data project to increase the openness and transparency of the Aoteaora NZ government.

Psycho-social study of fatal accidents

Research suggest that the majority of serious incidents and fatal events in recreational boating are mainly influenced by human factors. This research explores who the people involved in harmful recreational boating events are and the contributing human factors. Analysing academic literature and a subset of fatal recreational boating event data using inductive grounded theory, our study sought to identify compelling factors of psycho-social and cultural risk among those who experienced the highest degree of harm in recreational boating.

Exploring Psycho-Social and Cultural Risk Factors Among New Zealand Recreational Boaters - 2024 [PDF: 1.9Mb, 56 pages]

Recreational boating fatality report

Each year a number of people die while participating in recreational boating, an activity pursued for enjoyment, or for the benefit of friends or family.

Maritime NZ has compiled in report evaluating the key contributing factors into 92 recreational boating accidents between January 2015 and December 2020. The accidents claimed 98 lives between them.

Each accident is tragic and has its own unique set of circumstances, but the common factors across these accidents can help highlight ways that similar deaths may be prevented in the future.

Recreational Boating Fatality Report – 2022 [PDF: 848kB, 19 pages] Recreational Boating Fatality Report – 2021 [PDF: 961kB, 19 pages] Recreational Boating Fatality Report – 2015-2020 [PDF: 3.3MB, 63 pages]

Recreational boating literature review

In early 2021, Maritime NZ commissioned a Recreational Boating Literature Review titled: Boating Competency and Safety Decisions.

This work was undertaken by Associate Professor Mike Brown, Auckland University of Technology, Associate Professor Mike Boyes, University of Otago, and Mr Rob Hewitt, Liveit Enterprises.

The review focused on understanding what additional competencies should be included in a model that expands from water competency to boating competency, and what were the main factors affecting people’s decision making around safety on boating trips.

Recreational boating literature review - 2021 [PDF: 1.54MB, 61 pages] Watch rec boating literature review video [Vimeo: MP4, 18 mins 17 secs]

Engaging with Communities about Recreational Craft Safety

In February 2022, Maritime New Zealand commissioned Litmus to conduct a qualitative study on how different communities in Aotearoa New Zealand use craft in interactions with marine environments, how they kept themselves safe while doing so and what ideas they had for how safety could be improved.
This report presents the findings from the research, grouped by each of the four communities that were involved in the project, with cross-cutting themes and questions identified to prompt ways forward for the sector.

Engaging communities recreational craft safety report - 2023 [PDF: 2.9Mb, 95 pages] Watch Litmus present on Engaging with Communities about Recreational Craft Safety [Vimeo: MP4, 30 mins 8 secs]

Recreational boating research conducted by Ipsos New Zealand

Since 2014 Maritime NZ has been undertaking research into recreational boating.

Research NZ conducted the recreational boating research in 2014 and 2016.

From 2017 to 2020, Ipsos New Zealand has conducted the survey annually, before a shift to quarterly surveys from quarter 1 in 2021.

Ipsos quarterly recreational boating research

Since 2017 Ipsos New Zealand has been undertaking the Recreational Boating Survey for Maritime NZ. This took place once a year, after the busy boating season of summer. The survey asks questions about recreational boat ownership and use, recreational boating information sources, and perceived recreational boating risks.

In 2021, Ipsos and Maritime NZ recognised the benefits of surveying more often and began running surveys on a quarterly basis. See below reports from the surveys completed to date.