Part A ship registration

Part A registration is mainly for larger commercial vessels. Read about the required forms, fees and application process to register your ship under Part A.

About registration

The benefits of Part A registration:

provides a ship with New Zealand nationality when it goes on overseas voyages
protects a ship’s name for as long as it is registered
provides evidence of ownership
makes it possible to register a mortgage on a vessel
lasts as long as the ship is New Zealand-owned. It does not end if the ownership changes or if the ship is altered.

Registration of commercial ships in Part A of The New Zealand Register of Ships [PDF: 419kB, 8 pages]

Requirements

A person wanting to register a ship under Part A of the register needs to send Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships the following:

an Application for Part A Registration (form SR2)
a Builder’s Certificate (form SR23) or a photocopy of a Builder’s Certificate if the ship has been previously registered in another country
evidence of all ownership changes from the builder to you or, if the ship has been previously registered in another country, evidence of all ownership changes from the last registered overseas owner to you
a Declaration of Ownership and Nationality (form SR4)
a certified transcript of any previous overseas registration, if applicable
evidence that any previous overseas registration has been closed, if applicable, eg a deletion certificate
for ships over 24 metres in length, an International Tonnage Certificate (1969) and New Zealand Surveyor’s Tonnage Certificate. These certificates both need to be prepared by a surveyor who is recognised by Maritime New Zealand
for ships 24 metres or less in length, a Surveyor’s Certificate is required. This certificate needs to be issued by a surveyor who is recognised by Maritime New Zealand
a Carving and Marking Note signed by a recognised surveyor (for commercial ships) or by the owner (for pleasure vessels)
an Appointment of Representative Person (form SR1) and fee is required if the ship’s owner does not reside in New Zealand or does not have a registered office in New Zealand
for demise charter ships, a Declaration by Charterer (form SR5) and a copy of the charterparty is required.

You will incur a surveyor’s fee for the measurement of the ship. Surveyors will charge on a time basis and this will be a matter between you and the surveyor. Maritime New Zealand has a list of surveyors who are approved to undertake measurements of ships for Part A registration.

You will be invoiced once we have checked your application for completeness and formally received your application. A reference number and instructions explaining how to pay will be sent with the invoice.

See recognised surveyors list

A Part A registration will take approximately 25 working days to complete, however it does depend on the individual circumstances of each application.