New Zealand

Maritime New Zealand (“MNZ”) is the only organization appointed by the Government to maintain a New Zealand Register of Ships pursuant to the Ship Registration Act 1992. The Register is kept at the offices of Maritime New Zealand in Wellington and the Registrar of Ships is responsible for maintaining the Register.

All New Zealand owned ships longer than 24 meters must register pursuant to Part A of the Register by virtue of the Ship Registration Act of 1992, except those which i) are pleasure vessels, ii) sail only on inland waters, iii) are barges that do not trade beyond the coastal waters, or iv) are exempted by the Director of Maritime New Zealand in writing (generally New Zealand owned ships operated by foreign residents under bareboat charter registration in a foreign registry).

Registry forms are available from the MNZ website at www.maritimenz.govt.nz and at the Registrar of Ships' offices in Wellington or at local offices at 10 other major ports around the country. A local port of registry may be nominated in the application for registration. To effect registration in Part A of the Register, the following forms and documents are required by the Registrar of Ships in Wellington:

• Application for registration of a ship (Form SR2)
• Builder's Certificate (Form SR23)
• Evidence of ownership (e.g. Bill of Sale from previous owner or, if not previously registered, evidence of title from the builder to the new owner)
• Proof that all prior registrations have been closed (Certificate of Deletion or certified copy of the closing entry of the prior registry)
• Any tonnage certificates issued overseas
• A new tonnage certificate from an approved surveyor
• Form SR1 appointing an authorized representative to accept service of process if the owner does not reside in New Zealand or have a registered office in the country
• Ship's Carving and Marking Note
• Declaration of Ownership and Nationality (Form SR4)

Where vessels are overseas, documentation may be provided in facsimile form in the first instance with originals to follow. However, no steps will be taken to register the vessel until at least the original application (Form SR2) and the relevant fee is received by the Registrar of Ships. No processing of documentation is carried out at the local offices; all applications are processed centrally in Wellington. If the builder’s certificate or full evidence of title cannot be produced, then the Registrar of Ships may accept a statutory declaration in the approved form (Form SR27) stating the reasons why the document is not available. This procedure is most frequently used where the original Builder's Certificate is missing or, sometimes, where evidence of title is lost. Declarations of ownership and nationality can only be made after the vessel has been acquired by the applicant(s), and must not be executed under a date earlier than the Builder's Certificate or Bill of Sale passing title. It is essential that names and street addresses be given in full; post office box numbers are not acceptable. Declarations made on behalf of a body corporate must be made by an officer of the corporation duly authorized for such purpose.

A body corporate may give authority to more than one officer to act, but only one of the individuals so authorized should subscribe to any particular declaration. In declarations by joint owners, any number not exceeding five may join in the same declaration. Declarations may be made in New Zealand before a Justice of the Peace, solicitor, notary public, Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court or any District Court, a Member of Parliament, or officer of the Crown or of a local authority authorised for such purpose of administering oaths. Declarations may be made in a Commonwealth country other than New Zealand before a judge, Commissioner of Oaths, notary public, Justice of the Peace, any person authorized by the law of that country to administer an oath there for the purpose of a judicial proceeding, a Commonwealth representative, or a solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Declarations may be made in a country other than a Commonwealth country before a Commonwealth representative, a judge, a notary public, or a solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Only declarations executed by the individual owner(s) or, in the case of a body corporate, an officer will be accepted; signatures authorized by powers of attorney are not permitted.

Upon submission of the above documents and the appropriate registration fees, the ship is entered in the Register Book and a Certificate of New Zealand Registry and (for vessels 24m length and over) an International Tonnage Certificate (1969) is issued to the owner. A radio call sign will also be allocated to the ship through a division of the Ministry of Economic Development.

Regional offices are located at Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, New Plymouth, Picton, Nelson, Lyttelton, Dunedin and Bluff. When a ship is purchased overseas by persons qualified to own a registered New Zealand ship and time or other constraints are a factor, application may be made for the issuance of a Provisional Certificate of New Zealand Registry for the delivery voyage to New Zealand.