If a life is at risk, or could be soon, call 111 and ask for Police, or make a Mayday on VHF channel 16. If nobody’s in danger (flat battery, dead motor, out of fuel), call Coastguard on *500 or 0800 262 843 and choose option 1. Members get that help free; non-members are charged $400 an hour. Search and rescue itself is free for everyone.
Someone in the water, an injury, fire, taking on water, drifting onto rocks or toward a bar, darkness or a front coming through. Yes → 111 and ask for Police, or a Mayday on VHF channel 16. Don’t downgrade a maybe: rescuers would rather stand down than start late.
That’s non-urgent help, not a rescue. Call Coastguard on *500 or 0800 BOATIE (0800 262 843), option 1, or use your local Coastguard Radio channel, and quote your membership number if you have one. Members get it free; non-members are charged $400 an hour for the whole job.
Drop the anchor if it’s safe and check everyone’s lifejacket is on: from 9 October 2026, on boats 6 m and under, drifting counts as underway, so they should be anyway. On the radio, that’s what a PAN-PAN is for: urgent, but nobody in immediate danger. Then start your tracking link so the people ashore see you drift. If it gets worse, it’s 111 and a Mayday.
Coastguard is a volunteer charity, and its search and rescue response is free for everyone. Membership covers the non-urgent jobs: a flat battery, a fouled prop, a motor that won’t start. Prices from coastguard.nz, checked 3 Oct 2026:
From coastguard.nz/membership and the membership terms (updated 27 March 2026), checked 3 Oct 2026. Free assists apply within 12 nautical miles of the coast and within 30 nautical miles of a Coastguard rescue vessel base, from 24 hours after you join, and prices change, so check before you buy.
The app asks you this exact question: is anyone’s life in danger? Yes: it dials 111 and shows you what to say, starting with “Police”, with a Mayday form for your VHF. No: it shows Coastguard’s on-water line, 0800 262 843 option 1 (iPhone apps can’t dial *500). VesselSOS doesn’t sell memberships, isn’t affiliated with Coastguard and isn’t a rescue service. It just puts the right call one tap away.