An Australian Defence Force (ADF) warship has inadvertently caused internet and radio outages across parts of New Zealand.
HMAS Canberra, Australia’s largest naval vessel, was passing along the coast on its way to Wellington on Wednesday when its navigation radar wiped out wireless networks across the Taranaki and the Marlborough region.
Telecommunications companies recorded interruptions as early as 2am local time.
The New Zealand Defence Force contacted ADF after the issue was reported to them.
“HMAS Canberra became aware that their navigation radar was interfering with Wi-Fi in the Taranaki to the Marlborough region on approach to Wellington,” an ADF spokesperson said.
“On becoming aware, HMAS Canberra changed frequencies rectifying the interference. There are no ongoing disruptions.”
Services then returned to normal ahead of HMAS Canberra’s arrival on Thursday.
The founder of local telecommunications NZ company Primo, Matthew Harrison, said “it’s not every day a warship takes your gear offline”.
“This wasn’t just a blip. It was full-scale, military-grade radar triggering built-in safety protocols designed to protect airspace, and it rolled across our network in sync with the ship’s movement,” he said.
“We’ve never seen anything like it here before.
“Hey, Royal Australian Navy. Where can we send the bill?”
Fellow telcos Inspire Net Limited, TPNET NZ and Accelerate Wireless were also reportedly affected.
