Registration of changes to ship ownership

If the ownership of a ship registered in Part A of the register changes, it is important to advise Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships.

About changes of ownership

If the ship is no longer required to be registered - you can chose to close the registration.

Registered ownership usually changes because:

the ship has a new owner
the owner dies
a joint owner dies

The documentation required for each of these is different.

For details of other forms of transmission by operation of law, e.g. to the Crown, Public Trustee or by Court Order, contact the Registrar of Ships.

Transfer of ownership

When a ship is sold, both the current registered owner and the new owner need to complete and provide documentation to Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships.

The transfer process is more complex when a ship has more than one owner.

The current registered owner (the seller) needs to complete the Bill of Sale (form SR14) and send it to the new owner (the purchaser).

The new owner (the purchaser) needs to send Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships the following:

a Bill of Sale (form SR14) completed by the registered owner
a Declaration of Transfer (form SR4) made by the new owner/s after the Bill of Sale has been completed
the Ship’s Certificate of Registry (“the blue book”)
the fee of NZ$613.

The new owner must lodge the documents within 3 months of the date of the bill of sale. They could incur a fine of up to NZ$2,000.00 if they failed to do this.

Transactions are registered in the order in which they are received by the Registrar of Ships. The approximate processing time is ten working days from receipt of the correctly completed documents and payment of the fee.

Transfers of ownership can be complex if there are a number of owners involved. The type of ownership required (joint or ownership in common) may affect the number of bills of sale and declarations of transfer to be completed. In this case you should contact the Registrar of Ships for advice before completing any forms.

Bill of sale - SR14 [PDF: 64kB, 4 pages] Declaration of ownership and nationality of transfer - SR4 [PDF: 88kB, 5 pages]

Registering the death of a joint owner

Transmission by operation of law

Where a joint owner of a ship (or joint owner of shares in a ship) dies, ownership passes to the surviving joint owner/s by operation of law.

The transmission (transfer) must be registered before the surviving joint owner/s can deal with the ship. For example before they can sell or mortgage the ship.

The following documents should be forwarded to MNZ:

a Declaration of Transmission (form SR13) completed by the surviving joint owner/s
a Declaration of Identity (form SR29) made by a person well acquainted with the deceased, who must not be the joint owner/s to whom the ownership is to be transmitted
a certified copy of the deceased’s death certificate
the Ship’s Certificate of Registry, “the blue book”
a fee of NZ$613.

Declaration of transmission of ship or share or mortgage by operation of law - SR13 [PDF: 72kB, 6 pages] Declaration of identity of joint owner / joint mortgage - SR29 [PDF: 56kB, 3 pages]

Registering the death of a sole owner

Transmission by operation of law

Where the sole owner of a ship (or owner of shares in a ship) dies, ownership passes by transmission to the legal personal representative/s of the deceased, i.e. to the trustees of the deceased’s estate.

The transmission must be registered before the legal personal representative/s can deal with the ship. For example before they can transfer it to a beneficiary or beneficiaries of the estate, or sell it to a third party.

Where there is a specific bequest of the ship (or shares in a ship) in the deceased's will, ownership can be transmitted direct to the legatee (beneficiary) rather than to the legal personal representative/s.

The following documents should be forwarded to MNZ:

a Declaration of Transmission (form SR13) made by the legal personal representative/s or legatee to whom the ownership is to be transmitted
a certified copy of probate or letters of administration
the Ship’s Certificate of Registry, (“the blue book”)
a fee of NZ$613.

Declaration of transmission of ship or share or mortgage by operation of law - SR13 [PDF: 72kB, 6 pages]