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.
Registered ownership usually changes because:
If the ship is no longer required to be registered after a change in ownership, you can chose to close the registration instead of registering the ownership change. Read how to close a registration below.
The documentation required for each of these situations is different. Read what is required below.
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).
Bill of Sale (form SR14) [PDF: 191Kb, 4 pages]
The new owner (the purchaser) needs to send Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships the following:
Bill of Sale (form SR14) [PDF: 191Kb, 4 pages]
Declaration of Transfer (form SR4) [PDF: 200Kb, 5 pages]
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$2000.00 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 five 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.
Contact Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships
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.
Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships requires the following documents:
Declaration of Transmission (form SR13) [PDF: 188Kb, 5 pages]
Declaration of Identity (form SR29) [PDF: 96Kb, 1 page]
Transactions are registered in the order in which they are received by the Registrar of Ships. The approximate processing time is five working days from receipt of the correctly completed documents AND payment of the fee.
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, ie 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.
Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships requires the following documents:
Declaration of Transmission (form SR13) [PDF: 188Kb, 5 pages]
Transactions are registered in the order in which they are received by the Registrar of Ships. The approximate processing time is five working days from receipt of the correctly completed documents and payment of the fee.
For details of other forms of transmission by operation of law, eg to the Crown, Public Trustee or by Court Order, contact the Registrar of ships.
Contact Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships
If the ship is no longer required to be registered after a change in ownership, you can chose to close the registration instead of registering the ownership change.
Close a registration for a ship that is registered under Part A