Maritime News August 2026: Global Updates | Sea-Flux

Four weeks left to comment on the rules that will govern survey frequency, lifting gear and vessel access

Submissions on Package 3 of Maritime NZ’s 40-Series reform close at 5pm on 25 September 2026. It covers survey and certification, lifting appliances, navigation equipment, and accommodation and access, and includes a separate accessibility strand aimed at passenger vessel operators and their passengers.

Summary:

Package 3 is the final consultation in Maritime NZ’s multi-year reform of the Maritime Rules governing domestic commercial vessel design, construction and equipment. Consultation opened on 15 July 2026 and closes at 5pm on 25 September 2026. Across the three packages, 15 existing Rule Parts are being reformed, and the resulting rules and maritime transport instruments are intended to come into force together in 2028, subject to submissions and Ministerial agreement.

The four topics in Package 3 are survey and certification (Part 1A); lifting appliances, loose gear and working gear (Part 3A); accommodation, access, escape and personal safety (Part 3I); and navigation systems and equipment (Part 3K). For most operators the survey and certification proposals will matter most, because they bear on how often every vessel in a fleet is inspected. Maritime NZ has published a short Snapshot of Proposed Changes alongside the full documents, which is the quickest way to see whether a topic touches your operation.

Package 3 also carries a distinct accessibility strand within Part 3I, with its own proposal summary published in standard, large print and Easy Read formats, plus a questionnaire on people’s experiences with passenger ferries. Operators of passenger ferries, water taxis and tourism vessels have a direct interest here, both in how accessibility requirements would apply to vessel layout and access, and in encouraging passengers to respond in their own right.

Worth doing before 25 September

• Start with the Snapshot of Proposed Changes rather than the full 329-page combined document, as it is designed to show quickly where you would be affected.
• Read the survey and certification proposal summary closely if you run more than one vessel, since survey frequency drives cost and downtime across a whole fleet.
• If you operate passenger ferries, water taxis or tourism vessels, review the accessibility proposals and consider passing the passenger ferry questionnaire to your customers.
• Where lifting appliances or working gear are central to your operation, check the Part 3A drafts against how your gear is actually certified and maintained today.
• Talk the proposals through with your surveyor or recognised organisation now, so any operational impact is understood well ahead of the 2028 in-force date.
• Use the submission template if you are making a formal response, as it sets out specific questions by topic.

Why it matters

This is the last of the three packages, so it is the final opportunity to shape rules that will govern design, construction and equipment for domestic commercial vessels for years. Operators who do not engage risk having survey, equipment and access requirements settled around them without their input, and then meeting those requirements for the first time in 2028.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps survey and certification dates, equipment checks and maintenance history in one place, so when survey frequency or equipment requirements change, fleets can see immediately which vessels are affected and what evidence they already hold.

Source: Maritime NZ, DCE (40 Series) Package 3 consultation; opened 15 July 2026, closes 5pm 25 September 2026; page last updated 13 August 2026. https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/about-us/consultations/dce-40-series-package-3/ The Invitation to Comment, Snapshot of Proposed Changes, submission form and topic-by-topic proposal summaries are all downloadable from that page.

UKHO paper charts for New Zealand waters will be withdrawn by the end of the year

LINZ and the UK Hydrographic Office have agreed to withdraw all UKHO-produced paper charts covering New Zealand waters by 31 December 2026. LINZ-produced charts are unaffected, but vessels carrying UKHO charts may need to buy replacements to meet carriage requirements.

Maritime NZ has issued advance notice that, as part of the UK Hydrographic Office’s planned transition to a fully digital chart portfolio by the end of 2026, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and the UKHO have agreed to withdraw all UKHO-produced paper charts covering New Zealand waters. The withdrawal will be implemented in two stages, with all affected charts withdrawn by 31 December 2026. Details of individual chart withdrawals will appear in Notices to Mariners.

Two categories are not affected: LINZ-produced New Zealand paper charts, and smaller-scale UKHO charts of New Zealand waters that do not carry a New Zealand chart prefix. LINZ charts will continue to be published, maintained and available for purchase, and LINZ will continue to issue Notices to Mariners for them, so there is no loss of chart coverage. The practical consequence sits with vessels relying on UKHO paper charts or the ADMIRALTY SNC service: they may need to buy equivalent LINZ-produced charts through chart retailers in order to meet carriage requirements.

Worth doing now

• Check what is actually in the chart folio on each vessel, and identify anything UKHO-produced that covers New Zealand waters.
• Where UKHO charts are relied on for carriage requirements, order the equivalent LINZ charts rather than waiting for the withdrawal date.
• If you use the ADMIRALTY SNC service, review what it covers for New Zealand waters and plan the transition across.
• Follow Notices to Mariners over the coming months, since the withdrawals are being published there in two stages.
• Brief navigating officers, so a withdrawn chart is not still being treated as current on the bridge.

Why it matters

Carriage requirements are met by charts that are current, and a withdrawn chart no longer qualifies. Because the withdrawal is staged, the change will arrive for different vessels at different times, which makes it easy to miss, and leaving it to December means competing for replacements with everyone else.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux tracks required publications and equipment alongside survey and certification records, so chart holdings can be reviewed fleet-wide rather than vessel by vessel, and replacements planned well ahead of when they are needed.

Source: Maritime NZ, “Advanced notice for mariners: withdrawal of UKHO-produced charts for New Zealand waters”, published 24 August 2026. https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/news-landing-page/2026/august/advanced-notice-for-mariners-withdrawal-of-ukho-produced-charts-for-new-zealand-waters/ Chart listings and Notices to Mariners are available via the LINZ Charts website.

Rules package signed for 21 September, mainly affecting ships of 400 GT and above

A package of Maritime Rules and Marine Protection Rules amendments comes into force on 21 September 2026. Most of it lands above the 400 GT mark, but the fuel changeover provisions are worth watching for anyone approaching that threshold.

Maritime NZ has confirmed that the Maritime Rules Amendments 2026 and Marine Protection Rules Amendments 2026 have been signed, coming into force on 21 September 2026. The headline change is the removal of mandatory carbon-intensity requirements for domestic-voyaging ships of 400 GT and above, so for most smaller domestic fleets there is nothing to action here.

The part worth tracking more widely is fuel changeover. The amendments do not introduce new requirements themselves; they give the Director power to issue a Marine Protection Transport Instrument, which Maritime NZ expects to publish separately in the coming months. Fuel changeover matters because switching between fuel types, poorly managed, raises the risk of propulsion failure and pollution incidents. Maritime NZ has also paused consideration of scrubber requirements pending IMO decisions expected next year. Separately, feedback on the RAP 3 consultation covering seafarer certificate operating limits and recognition of fishing (STCW-F) sea service was reported as broadly supportive, with the next phase now progressing.

Worth doing now

• If you operate domestic-voyaging ships of 400 GT and above, confirm with your surveyor what the removal of carbon-intensity requirements means for current certification and reporting.
• Watch for the fuel changeover Marine Protection Transport Instrument when it is published, and treat the present position as interim rather than settled.
• International operators, surveyors and recognised organisations should review the international convention updates and associated Gazette notices where relevant.
• If the RAP 3 operating-limits or STCW-F sea service proposals affect your crewing, keep an eye out for the next phase.

Why it matters

This package changes what is required rather than adding to it, so operators above the threshold may keep meeting requirements that no longer apply, or plan around a fuel changeover regime that has not yet been set.

Source: Maritime NZ, “Maritime and Marine Protection Rules updated”, published 24 August 2026. https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/news-landing-page/2026/august/maritime-and-marine-protection-rules-updated/ Further detail is on Maritime NZ’s latest rule updates page.

PORT STATE CONTROL: EUROPE, UK, ASIA-PACIFIC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Cargo securing campaign opens 1 September, and the questionnaire is now public

The Paris and Tokyo MOUs have published the ten-question questionnaire for their joint cargo securing campaign, running 1 September to 30 November. It targets internationally trading ships, but the ground it covers is familiar to anyone moving deck cargo or project loads.

On 3 August the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding issued a joint press release publishing the questionnaire for their Concentrated Inspection Campaign on cargo securing. The campaign runs from 1 September to 30 November 2026 alongside routine port state control inspections, with each ship subject to only one campaign inspection per MOU. The questionnaire has ten questions, seven of which may be grounds for detention. It is expected to apply to ships carrying non-bulk cargoes, and to bulk carriers and tankers carrying a Cargo Securing Manual. There is no published tonnage threshold, which settles the point left open in July’s edition.

This is a port state control regime, so in practice it applies to internationally trading vessels calling at member ports rather than to domestic fleets. The Paris MOU covers Europe, the UK and the North Atlantic; the Tokyo MOU covers the Asia-Pacific including Australia and New Zealand, and AMSA has confirmed it will take part over the same window. That said, the substance is familiar ground for anyone carrying deck cargo, containers, project loads or general freight, and the framework behind it, SOLAS and the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing, is the same good practice that sits behind barge, tug and supply work generally.

Inspectors will be looking for an approved, ship-specific Cargo Securing Manual and officers who genuinely know what it requires; cargo plans reflecting verified gross mass, a Cargo Safe Access Plan where required, and approved portable securing devices carried and maintained; and measures to prevent cargo loss overboard, bridge visibility compliance, and the ship’s own heavy weather procedures.

Worth doing before 1 September

• Check the Cargo Securing Manual on board is the approved version and still describes the vessel as fitted today, not as it was before the last refit.
• Read through the ten questions with the officers who will be answering them.
• Look over lashing gear and securing fittings, and make sure damaged items have a clear route out of service.
• Bring securing equipment into the planned maintenance system, so inspection records sit with everything else.

Why it matters

For internationally trading vessels, seven detainable questions means a ship that would pass a routine inspection can still be held on cargo securing alone. For everyone else, the gaps the campaign is designed to find, such as an out-of-date manual, worn gear or records that cannot be produced, are the same ones behind cargo damage, delay and claims regardless of who is inspecting.

How Sea-Flux supports this

Sea-Flux keeps equipment inspection and maintenance history in one place, so cargo securing gear is tracked like any other equipment on board and the evidence is already assembled when someone asks for it.

Source: https://parismou.org/paris-and-tokyo-mous-launch-2026-concentrated-inspection-campaign-on-cargo-securing/