Preliminary assessments have begun to determine if a permanent Coastguard presence could be established in Oamaru.
About 30 people attended a meeting in the town earlier this week where coastguard representatives heard from local boat users and emergency service personnel about the need to bring the coastguard to North Otago.
Following the meeting, Sergeant Wayne Brew of Oamaru police said he now wanted to hear from residents interested in becoming volunteers, in the event that the Coastguard agreed that a presence was needed.
Sgt Brew said there was a demand for a marine search and rescue capability in Oamaru.
"The nearest coastguard is in Timaru. That leaves a large section of coast for the coastguard to cover.
"Our normal search and rescue response is by helicopter, but if our usual responder is not in the area, the nearest helicopter is in Dunedin, and obviously in a life-and-death situation we need an immediate response."
However, although Coastguard southern region manager Cheryl Moffat said this week's meeting had been "very good", the process of approving a lifeboat station in the town would be a long and "expensive".
"We have to determine if there is a level of need in terms of marine search and rescue for a new unit to be set up in the area, and I am working with Wayne to determine how much activity there is, what has happened in the past and what we can predict in the future. We also need to determine if there is a group of people who are willing to volunteer and put the time and energy in.
"Also we need to determine if the community is willing to support it in terms of funding. The Coastguard doesn't have a lot of spare money to set up new groups, therefore it has to be of the community, for the community, by the community.
"It's not going to happen overnight, we need to do some preliminary work and then I need to discuss that with the regional board. Then we have to go to our national board.
"It is quite a process, but it should be, because the average number of hours that a unit of approximately this size in that community put in is between 3000 and 5000 volunteer hours (per year). It's not something that we do lightly."
Total costs would depend on whether a new base had to be built or whether there was an existing facility that could be used, but the cost of a new 8m-10m lifeboat vessel alone would run between $500,000 and $1 million, she said.
Many incidents had been dealt with by local boat owners, but had not been reported to police, Sgt Brew said .
As part of the assessment process he said he was "very keen" to hear from local boat users about any incidents that may not have been previously reported.
Oamaru Yacht and Power Boat Club commodore Wes Hamilton said the possibility of a Coastguard station in Oamaru was "well worth exploring".
"We have had a few incidents around the Waitaki [river] mouth, which is quite a dangerous area, and we have had fatalities in our own waters over the years.
"If you are out there bobbing about on your own and you desperately need help - that would certainly justify it.
"But it is going to require support from volunteers and it will also require support from the community as well."
