Credit: Kordia
New Zealand's Kordia Group has renewed its long-term contract with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) for another 10 years.
The deal will see the state-owned company provide 24x7 network monitoring services to AMSA to ensure the safety of life at sea for an estimated value of $34 million.
Kordia has been delivering the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) radio services on Australian waters since 2000, with its last contract, worth $26 million, expiring in June last year.
It houses management of safety of life at sea (SOLAS) communications in Australia and New Zealand through Maritime Operations Centres (MOC) in Canberra and Wellington.
The new agreement began in July 2022 and will end in June 2032.
Kordia is also providing a Cospas–Sarsat search and rescue satellite system for AMSA between May 2022 and May this year in a deal worth $375,000.
Additionally, it providing AMSA with satellite AIS services for two years until March 2024 in a deal worth $297,332.
Kevin McEnvoy, manager of the AMSA Response Centre, said the service is vital for maintaining the safety of seafarers in Australian waters.
“The communications delivered via the GMDSS radio services are a critical part of our ability to respond quickly to people in distress across our region,” he said.
“The ability to maintain 24-hour nationwide monitoring of high frequency (HF) radio distress, urgency and safety communications is a major contributor to the effectiveness of our search and rescue services and critical to keeping people safe out on the water.”
Kordia’s head of maritime, Christian Hillier, said Kordia is committed to providing high-class service. “Kordia is proud to have provided the GMDSS services for 20 years, and we look forward to continuing this important work with AMSA for the foreseeable future,” he added.
In 2021, Kordia Group sold its Australian network contracting business, Kordia Solutions Australia (KSA), to Aussie infrastructure services giant Ventia to focus on improved profitability through ICT services.
Group CEO Shaun Rendell said at the time that Kordia’s New Zealand business was experiencing solid growth, but market conditions in the Australian telco contracting market had been challenging over the previous 18 months.
