TheNew Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa is a maritime museum inAuckland, New Zealand. It is located on Hobson Wharf, adjacent to theViaduct Harbour in central Auckland. It houses exhibitions spanning New Zealand's maritime history, from the firstPolynesian explorers and settlers to modern day triumphs at theAmerica's Cup.
The museum focuses on maritime stories of both theAuckland Region and New Zealand,[1] with displays covering topics including immigration, trade, design, innovation, leisure,[2] maritime history,Polynesian voyagers, and the history of theAmerica's Cup.[3] In addition to displays and art exhibitions, the New Zealand Maritime Museum collections include historic and cultural artifacts, replicas and working heritage vessels.[4]
The New Zealand Maritime Museum is located on Hobson Wharf on theAuckland waterfront,[2] adjacent to theViaduct Basin andPrinces Wharf. The entrance of the museum incorporates the Launchman's Building, a structure built in 1920 which formerly housed a number of small boating companies.[5] The old Launchman's Building (Launch Offices) gained aCategory II listing fromHeritage New Zealand in 1981.[6] The main section of the maritime museum in an industrial-inspired structure located on Hobson Wharf.[7] Heritage vessels owned by the museum are moored at the museum marina,[8] and launched for sailings around theWaitematā Harbour.[9] In 2010, the building won the Auckland Architecture Awards by theNew Zealand Institute of Architects.[10] Located outside of the Maritime Museum's entrance isKZ1, a yacht built to compete in the1988 America's Cup,[11] gifted to the museum byFay Richwhite in 1990.[12]
Currently known as New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa,[2] the museum opened in 1993 as Hobson Wharf: Auckland Maritime Museum.[13] In 1996, the museum was renamed the New Zealand National Maritime Museum, a name given by Prime MinisterJim Bolger.[14] The museum rebranded as Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum in November 2009, in order to reflect the museum's focus on exploration and discovery.[14] The organisation's current name, New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa, was adopted in 2014.[15][16][17]
KZ1 at the entrance of the maritime museum in 2006
The establishment of a maritime history museum in Auckland began as a proposal by members of the Auckland Maritime Society, including Bill Laxon, Bob Hawkins, Cliff Hawkins and John Street,[18] and by former members of theAuckland Harbour Board andUnion Steam Ship Company.[2] The society had been established in 1958 as a section of theAuckland Institute and Museum, focused on promoting the study of ships.[19] In 1973, the society explored the possibility of establishing a maritime museum on the shores ofLake Pupuke, which was found to be unsuitable.[20] In November 1981, the Auckland Maritime Museum was established as a charitable trust.[21][22] TheAuckland Ferry Terminal, where the museum had been storing archival materials, was explored as a potential site for the museum, but due to the cost of renovations this was decided against.[23][24]
In 1984, the museum appointed a director, Gordon Stevenson, former director of theQueen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum, and had begun exploring the possibility of using sheds onPrinces Wharf.[24][25] Plans for a smaller Princes Wharf museum were halted when theAuckland Harbour Board decided to redevelop Hobson Wharf, with the museum becoming a major part of the redevelopment.[22]
In 1989,Rodney Wilson was appointed as the new director for the museum,[26] who led fundraising efforts to establish the institution.[27][28] Plans for the museum at Hobson Wharf were announced in February 1989, with construction on the museum beginning in mid-1992.[22]
The museum opened in August 1993,[1] at an estimated cost of NZ$11.1 million.[29] Many of the early maritime collections were long-term loans fromAuckland War Memorial Museum,[30] or donated items by members of the Auckland Maritime Society.[2][18] While originally focusing on Auckland, the museum later expanded to become a national maritime museum.[18]
By 1996, financial difficulties led to staff redundancies at the museum,[31] with museum director Richard Cassels resigning during the financial difficulties in 1998.[32] In 2001, the New Zealand Government funded the Pacific Discovery Experience, a virtual reality exhibition depicting both the discovery of New Zealand by Polynesian peoples, and the later discovery by Europeans.[33]
A NZ$8 million extension to the northern end of the museum was built in 2009 to house a permanent exhibition,Blue Water, Black Magic, about SirPeter Blake. It includes the originalNZL 32 (Black Magic).[34][35]Blue Water, Black Magic was developed in collaboration withTe Papa and Blake's daughter Sarah-Jane Blake.[36][37]
In 2010, an extension was added to the museum, housing an exhibition to New Zealand yachting which includesNZL 32, the yacht which won the1995 America's Cup, suspended in the centre of the space.[38] By 2018, the museum received approximately 160,000 annual visitors.[7]
The museum was run by New Zealand National Maritime Museum Trust Board until March 2018,[1][2] when it became a part of Regional Facilities Auckland, anAuckland Council-controlled organisation.[39] The organisation is now run byTātaki Auckland Unlimited, the economic development agency of Auckland.[2]
In 2008, theAuckland Regional Amenities Funding Act was established, which ensured that funding for the New Zealand Maritime Museum was spread across all local councils in the Auckland Region.[40][41] As of 2021, funding for the organisation primarily comes from the Auckland Council.[7]
The first director of the Auckland Maritime Museum Trust was Gordon Stevenson, who was employed in January 1985 Gordon Stevenson director.[21]Rodney Wilson became the museum director in 1989,[26] who was the director of the museum when it opened in 1993.[22][27] In 1994, Wilson left to become the director of theAuckland War Memorial Museum.[42] Wilson was replaced by Richard Cassels in the same year,[43] who left in 1998.[32] Cassels was followed by chief executive Larry Robbins in 1999,[44] Craig Hobbs in 2007,[41] and Paul Evans in 2008.[45] By 2013, Murray Reade had become the chief executive officer.[46] In 2013, former director ofToitū Otago Settlers Museum, Linda Wigley, became the director of the maritime museum, overseeing the redevelopment of the museum until her resignation in June 2014.[47][15] The current director of the maritime museum, Vincent Lipanovich, has held the position since 2015.[48]
In 2018, the institution had 166 volunteers, working as tour guides, maintenance and operational crew for heritage vessels, model makers and learning programme assistants.[3] Since 2003, personnel from theRoyal New Zealand Navy have been occasionally seconded to the museum to assist with maintenance of the ships and exhibition objects.[49]
Bill Laxon Maritime Library.[50] The library is supported through funding by the Maritime Museum Foundation.[51] The library operates the New Zealand Maritime Index,[52] formerly operated the New Zealand Maritime Record,[53] and formerly a website documenting theNorthern Steamship Company.[54]
Blue Water, Black Magic, a permanent exhibition toPeter Blake, which includes the originalNZL 32 (Black Magic).[55][34]
Changing Waterfront, a set of two interactive dioramas constructed by Stuart Weekes in 2017. The dioramas show two scenes of the Auckland waterfront, one circa 1900 and one circa 2000.[56]
Coastal Trade gallery, which includes a recreation of the port of Auckland in the early 1900s, a facade ofNorthern Steamship Company building, and a model of the 1886 cutterRewa.[57]
Edmiston Gallery. Originally funded by the Edmiston Trust,[58] the gallery showcases temporary exhibitions relating to maritime artworks.[59][60]
Hall of Yachting, which showcases locally designed and produced sailing dinghies, such as theFlying Ant, theMistral, theStarling, theSunburst and theIdle Along.[61]
Hawaiki Gallery, which includes oceanic craft, includingTavaka,a two-man outrigger canoe that was constructed for the museum byFutunan boatbuilder Lishi Nakali in 1994.[62]
The Immigrants, an exhibition exploring migration from different perspectives, includes stories of Pasifika, Māori, European and Chinese immigration experiences to New Zealand. The exhibition replaced an earlier immigration exhibition in 2010.[63]
The Maritime Room, a convention and events space.[64]
In addition, the museum holds collection items focusing on subjects including whaling, modern commercial shipping, lifeboat, pilotage and coastguard services, marine surveying, maritime arts and crafts and maritime recreation.[66]
The museum also owns a number of vessels that are normally berthed outside of the museum:
Ted Ashby, reproduction ofketch-riggedscow typical of late 19th century northern New Zealand vessels, that was purpose-built for the museum in 1993. Ted Ashby has public sailings every day except Monday.[67][8]
S. S.Puke, late 19th century steam enginetender for coastal and river logging trade.[71] The vessel was launched in 1872, and in 1977 was salvaged from theTāmaki River and restored by enthusiasts.[72]
The museum also operatesAotearoa One, launched 2013, described on the museum's website as "a modern take on a traditionalwaka", which no longer has scheduled sailings.[73] The museum previously operated theRapaki steam crane, a 1926floating steam crane, built atPaisley in Scotland for theLyttelton Harbour Board, which was permanently removed and dismantled in December 2018.[74][72] The vessel had been used in active service for three years duringWorld War II, being used to support theUnited States Navy at New Caledonia.[72]
The museum has a collection of over 130 watercraft,[66] including the 1933John L. Hacker-designed mahogany and kauri speedboatJon-El,[75]The Frances, an early 20th century vessel owned by theShakespear family,[76] andPaul Caffyn's kayakIsadora.[77] Other vessels include theTainui, an 1860 whaling vessel,[78]P-class sailing dinghies designed byHarry Highet,[79]Mammoth, amoth-class dinghy,[79] and[80][81] and the Karlich hull used by Olympic Gold medalist rowers, the1972 New Zealand eight.[82][83]Tatarai, aBaurua voyager canoe from Kiribati built in 1976 by Kiribati islanders and photographerJim Siers using traditional methods, and sailed from Kiribati to Fiji in 1976, is also held in the museum's collections.[84]
New Zealand Maritime Museum HUITE ANANUTA TANGAROA
New Zealand Maritime Museum Gift shop
Pig iron ballast from Captain James Cook's HM Bark Endeavour in the New Zealand Maritime Museum. This piece of ballast was recovered from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, where Endeavour had gone aground in 1770.
^abcdLoud, Rebecca (1 January 2013),Never let me go? A case study of deaccessioning and disposal undertaken at Museum of Wellington City and Sea, Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington,doi:10.26686/WGTN.17007469,WikidataQ112900760
^abcdefg"About".New Zealand Maritime Museum. Retrieved3 November 2025.
^abChen, Xiaohua; Liu, Claire; Legget, Jane (November 2018). "Motivations of museum volunteers in New Zealand's cultural tourism industry".Anatolia.30 (2): 1-13.doi:10.1080/13032917.2018.1542521.
^Cameron, Ewen;Hayward, Bruce; Murdoch, Graeme (2008).A Field Guide to Auckland: Exploring the Region's Natural and Historical Heritage (Revised ed.). Random House New Zealand. p. 202.ISBN978-1-86962-1513.
^abcLegget, Jane (October 2021). "Visitor Attractions:Volunteering in cultural heritage tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand". In Holmes, Kirsten; Lockstone-Binney, Leonie; Smith, Karen A.; Shipway, Richard (eds.).The Routledge Handbook of Volunteering in Events, Sport and Tourism. London: Routledge.doi:10.4324/9780367815875-10.ISBN9780367815875.
^Stevens, Michael J. (2018). "Māori History as Maritime History: A View from the Bluff". In Steel, Frances (ed.).New Zealand and the Sea: New Themes and Perspectives. Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books. pp. 156–180.doi:10.7810/9780947518707_8.ISBN9780947518707.
^"Who We Are".Maritime Museum Foundation. Retrieved5 November 2025.
^"Maritime Histories - Ship Index".The New Zealand Maritime Record. New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa. Archived fromthe original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved5 November 2025.
^Xeni, Elena; Arrocha, William (2023).Migrations and Diasporas: Struggling Between Inclusion and Exclusion. Emerald Publishing Limited. p. 203-209.ISBN9781837971466.
^"The Maritime Room".Discover Auckland. 4 November 2025. Retrieved5 November 2025.
Introducing the New Zealand National Maritime Museum. New Zealand National Maritime Museum. March 2002.ISBN0-9582022-2-2.
Walsh, Frances (2020).Endless Sea: Stories Told Through the Taonga of the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa. Massey University Press.ISBN978-0-9951318-7-3.
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