Gisborne man takes charge of RNZN’s HMNZS Aotearoa for Indo-Pacific mission

Earlier this week Commander Sutherland stated “I have the ship” during a formal change of command ceremony aboard maritime sustainment vessel HMNZS Aotearoa in Pearl Harbor, taking over from Commander Rob Welford.

The change of command, overseen by the Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding,  completes Commander Welford’s two years and nine months as Commanding Officer and follows the conclusion of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world’s largest maritime exercise, last month.

Commander Sutherland and Aotearoa will continue to Operation Crucible, a South-East Asian deployment in company with frigate HMNZS Te Mana, with port visits to Japan, Korea, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia. 

Commander Sutherland has previously served aboard frigate HMNZS Te Kaha for a South-East Asia deployment with Aotearoa.

But as well as the size of Aotearoa, it’s a new experience to have most of the ship in front of him, due to the aft placement of the bridge. 

“It will make driving a bit different,” he says. 

“It’s my first posting to a tanker and I’m looking forward to seeing frigates from the other side when we replenish them.” 

He’s had the benefit of being aboard Aotearoa for two weeks as part of his handover.

“Ships have their own character and way of doing things and I’m not about to change that. I want to maintain this good ‘vibe’ that I have seen during my handover.

“Something that particularly impressed me was how we conducted a dual replenishment with two combatant ships, one on either side of us, while a third combatant sent its helicopter over to uplift dry cargo we had for it.

“That was effectively a four-ship concurrent replenishment at sea. The ship’s company, who were working hard, made it look easy. All our customers got what they asked for and the ship reset to do it all again the next day. 

“I’m looking forward to being part of such a high-performing team, and I’m keen to leverage off my frigate experience to continue to enhance the RNZN’s war fighting ethos in Aotearoa and ensure we continue to seamlessly integrate into Task Groups.”

Born in Napier, Commander Sutherland earned a tour of Devonport Naval Base when he was 11 years old thanks to a letter-writing competition. What he saw stayed with him, prompting his application to the Navy in 2001 during his final year at Campion College in Gisborne.

Four years later, Commander Sutherland finished as one of the top students on his Principal Warfare Officer course. He served in Te Mana in the Arabian Gulf and South East Asia and has been throughout the Pacific to the Southern Ocean as an Operations Officer/Navigating Officer in HMNZS Otago.

As a lieutenant he embarked in the Singaporean Landing Ship Tank RSS Endurance as the Assistant Task Group Operations Officer conducting anti-piracy operations off Somalia for several months.

He has served as Operations Officer aboard HMNZS Te Kaha and then as executive officer in both Te Kaha and Te Mana, assisting both vessels through their Frigate Systems Upgrade in Canada.

This is his fourth command, having commanded Inshore Patrol Vessels HMNZ Ships Pukaki and Rotoiti from 2011, and Te Kaha in 2022, seeing it through a major upgrade in drydock.

As a commanding officer, he takes the Officer’s Pledge seriously and reaffirmed it during his change of command.

“I expect to be held accountable to the part that says that at all times I will show respect for those I am privileged to command and lead, and that I will take personal responsibility for the morale and wellbeing of our sailors.”