An Australian Defence Force (ADF) warship, the HMAS Canberra, inadvertently disrupted internet and radio services across parts of New Zealand. The incident occurred while the vessel was en route to Wellington on Wednesday, with its navigation radar causing interference that affected wireless networks in the Taranaki and Marlborough regions.
Telecommunications providers began noting service interruptions as early as 2am local time. The New Zealand Defence Force promptly reached out to the ADF regarding the outages. An ADF spokesperson confirmed, “HMAS Canberra became aware that their navigation radar was interfering with Wi-Fi in the Taranaki to the Marlborough region on approach to Wellington.” The spokesperson added that the ship altered its radar frequencies to resolve the issue, leading to the restoration of services before its arrival on Thursday.
Matthew Harrison, founder of NZ telecommunications company Primo, commented on the rare nature of such an event, stating, “It’s not every day a warship takes your gear offline.” He described the radar interference as substantial, explaining that it involved military-grade technology triggering safety protocols designed to protect airspace, which then adversely impacted their network in synchrony with the ship’s movement. Harrison remarked, “We’ve never seen anything like it here before,” and even light-heartedly quipped, “Hey, Royal Australian Navy. Where can we send the bill?”
Other local telecom companies, including Inspire Net Limited, TPNET NZ, and Accelerate Wireless, also reported being affected by the outages.