From 11.59pm on July 31, 2022 foreign flagged vessels including recreational small craft will once again be allowed into New Zealand with the re-opening of the country’s maritime borders.

Published 2 years ago

Viki Moore from Island Cruising NZ has welcomed the re-opening of New Zealand’s maritime borders after a tough two and a half years for cruisers in the South Pacific.

“With this behind us now, I am looking forward to welcoming cruisers back to New Zealand. We have got some incredible cruising destinations to explore as well as hosting the SailGP regatta in Lyttelton in March 2023.

“New Zealand also has a top-class marine industry and international boats are able to access repairs at tax free prices.”

What are the new entry rules?

According to the amendment to the NZ COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Amendment Order, for the July 31 border re-opening, all arrivals on Category 2 Ships (which are defined as one that is operated primarily for the transportation or pleasure of the person or people on board whether or not there are paid or unpaid crew who support them on board) must be vaccinated (or be excused or exempt).

The amendment order states:

A person is excused if they have—

• a certificate from a medical practitioner or an overseas-qualified medical practitioner verifying the practitioner’s advice that, for medical reasons, the person should not be vaccinated; and
• if the certificate is not in English, a translation of the certificate into English.

A person is exempt if they—

• are aged 16 years or under:
• are a New Zealand citizen:
• hold a residence class visa (as defined in section 4 of the Immigration Act 2009):
• held a residence class visa that expired no more than 6 months before the person boarded the ship:
• are a citizen of Australia and ordinarily resident in New Zealand:
• are a citizen of Afghanistan and arrive in New Zealand on or before 12 December 2022:
• are an arrival from Ukraine.

Hard Border Closure

In response to the maritime border re-opening, Viki Moore said she felt that the border closure for recreational vessels created unnecessary hardship for many people.

“Cruisers were forced to stay put in places susceptible to cyclones, unable to fly home to see family and unable to return back to their boats. NZ Marine businesses also missed out on an important source of income. Cruisers were low risk of bringing in COVID and had the ability to isolate on boats without taking up precious managed isolation hotels. The exemption process required a commitment to spend a minimum of $50k along with a mountain of paperwork to navigate, but thankfully now, we can look forward to welcoming the cruising community back to the country.”

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Related Links:

COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border and Other Matters) Amendment Order (No 2) 2022

NZ Customs – Maritime Border Controls

NZ Ministry of Health – Information and Guidance for the Maritime Sector