Registering a caveat

A caveat can be registered by any person claiming an interest in a ship, or a share in a ship. Caveats are only registrable against ships in Part A of the register.

How to register a caveat

A caveat can be registered by any person claiming an interest in a ship (or in a share in a ship) under any unregistered instrument, or by operation of law.

A person registering a caveat needs to have a reasonable cause to do so under the Ship Registration Act 1992.

Registration of a caveat forbids the entry in the register of any further transactions (except a transmission of the ship by operation of law) until after notice of the caveat is given to the caveator (the person who registered the caveat).

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

a caveat form (form SR21) – two originals
a fee of NZ$980

Withdrawing a caveat

A person wanting to withdraw a caveat needs to send Maritime New Zealand’s Registrar of Ships a Withdrawal of Caveat form (form SR22). There is no fee to withdraw a caveat.

A withdrawal of caveat is not required if documents lodged for registration vest in the caveator the interest claimed in the caveat.

Withdrawal of caveat - SR22 [PDF: 57kB, 3 pages]