Maritime / Ship licences

Who does this licence apply to?

• Persons or other legal entities that own a maritime vessel with radio transmitting equipment fitted on-board.
• Persons or other legal entities that own and/or operate radio transmitting equipment for the purpose of communicating with maritime vessels.

Ship licences - VHF radio

VHF marine radiotelephones may be installed either on vessels or used as portable transceivers. They may be used on vessels operated in New Zealand waters under a General User Radio Licence, which does not require vessels to be individually licensed.

A unique radio callsign is required for each vessel. This can be obtained along with an MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identifier) number from an approved radio examiner.

Because operators of marine radiotelephones are required by their Licence to have an appropriate radio operator qualification, the Coastguard will ask for details of qualification during the call. VHF radio operators need a Marine Operators Qualification, courses and examinations are available nation-wide from approved radio examiners. 

Approved radio examiners may issue callsigns as prescribed in PIB46.

The callsign series:

• ZMQ 2000 - 9999, ZMS 2000 - 9999,
• ZMT 2000 - 9999, ZMW 2000 – 9999
• and ZMY (2000 to 9999)

are for VHF-only vessels, and allocated only by approved radio examiners, these callsign records are neither administered by Radio Spectrum Management, nor recorded on Radio Spectrum Management’s online Register of Radio Frequencies unless they have an associated MMSI.

Ship licences – commercial vessels

Requirements for radio operators on commercial vessels will vary depending on the radio equipment installed, number of passengers and requirements of current safety legislation. Owners should approach their Safe Ship Management Company or the Maritime New Zealand (Ph: 0508 22 55 22) for further advice.

Information on the use of maritime frequencies in New Zealand for safety in particular can be sourced from the Maritime New Zealand and New Zealand Nautical Almanac.

Ship licences - Single Sideband Radios (SSB)

SSB (MF/HF) marine radiotelephones installed on vessels are operated in New Zealand waters under a General User Radio Licence, which does not require vessels to be licensed individually. SSB (MF/HF) callsigns along with an MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identifier) number can be obtained from Approved Radio Examiners (ARX’s).

Operators of marine radio equipment must hold an appropriate operator’s certificate, available from an Approved Examiner. 

Vessels travelling overseas

Vessels equipped with SSB (MF/HF) or VHF marine radiotelephones and travelling overseas must hold an individual Licence for the vessel. This will require the radio operator to have a minimum qualification of a Maritime Restricted Operator's Certificate. This can be obtained by contacting an Approved Radio Examiner (ARX).

Vessels travelling in overseas waters are not covered by the General User Radio Licence. Application for a Maritime Ship licence for a vessel travelling overseas can be made online or by sending RSM a completed Radio 1 application form [170 kB PDF]. For applicable fees refer to the fees schedule.

Callsign series allocated by the Radio Spectrum Management to individually licences vessels are stipulated in the appendix of PIB46. These callsign records can be searched online in SMART.

Coast stations

From the 1st November 2007 most VHF Coast Stations are able to operate under the provisions of the General User Radio Licence which does not require stations to be individually licensed.

 
Some Coast Stations will continue to require an individual licence, these are:

• All MF/HF Coast Stations.
• All VHF Coast Stations that are remotely accessed. These Coast Stations are typically located on a high point to extend the coverage of the Coast Station and linked by a UHF fixed link or a landline to the radio operator.
  
  Application for all land based maritime licences and repeater stations can be made online or by sending us a completed Radio 2L application form [179 kB PDF]. For applicable fees refer to the fees schedule.
  

Maritime land station transmitters can be searched online in SMART. Callsigns are allocated in accordance with ITU-R and IMO provisions.

Navigation equipment

Most radar and other navigation equipment acting as a transmitter on vessels and radio buoys are covered by the Licence which covers the operation of the radio equipment on board the vessel in New Zealand waters.

Note: You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view and print the PDF documents.