The offshore patrol vessel will depart from Birch St wharf at 10am tomorrow and transport 23 Department of Conservation (Doc) and MetService staff to the island, along with more than seven tonnes of timber and equipment.
Maritime Component Commander Commodore Jim Gilmour said HMNZS Otago would support the government staff as they carried out resupply and maintenance tasks on the island for about two weeks.
Comm Gilmour said Otago would also help the Defence Technology Agency (DTA) gather data on the characteristics of Southern Ocean waves to support operations in the area and the Ross Sea.
"One of the New Zealand Defence Force’s key commitments is to support other government agencies in New Zealand and in the Pacific region.
"Using our ships, aircraft and people, we conduct regular fisheries patrols in our exclusive economic zone and in the South Pacific, or resupply missions to the Kermadec Islands or the sub-Antarctic region."
Doc senior ranger Jo Hiscock said agency staff would inspect field huts, bridges, tracks and boardwalks as part of routine maintenance work.
The Col Lyall Boardwalk, which is one of two main visitor sites in the sub-Antarctic region, would be repaired, she said.
Doc staff would also assess historic sites and carry out surveillance checks to ensure the island, which was the focus of the world’s largest rat radication project in 2001, remains rodent-free.
MetService meteorological data services manager Kevin Alder said five agency staff would inspect meteorological buildings on the island and carry out maintenance work on the automatic weather station.
"The New Zealand Defence Force’s logistical support is vital to maintaining critical weather observation sites in the sub-Antarctic islands," he said.
Campbell Island lies 700km south of New Zealand’s South Island, and is the most southerly of the five New Zealand sub-Antarctic groups.
It is one of the cornerstones of New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic World Heritage site.
