Safe Operational Plans for hovercraft

Hovercraft operating in New Zealand for hire or reward are required to have a Safe Operational Plan (SOP) under Maritime Rule Part 40F.

How to get a Safe Operational Plan:

To get a Safe Operational Plan, you will need to do the following:

1. Contact your nearest hovercraft Authorised Person for an inspection, audit and approval of your operation^*
2. When your SOP has been approved, you will need a Certificate of Compliance from Maritime New Zealand before you can begin operating.

The Certificate of Compliance will be valid for two years and if you wish to continue operating you must re-apply for a new certificate (see the process above) before the old one expires.

During the period the Certification covers each operation must be audited.  Under Rules Part 40F the audits must be annual but Certified hovercraft operators have been exempted from that requirement. Instead, each operator will be audited at a frequency determined by their risk profile.

Maritime NZ does the risk profiling and conducts the audits. These are known as ‘routine audits’ and are conducted free of charge.

At the time you are certified you will be advised of when your first routine audit will be carried out.

^*This is on behalf of the Director of Maritime New Zealand.

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