Source: Maritime New Zealand
For this levy review, Maritime NZ sought no change to the Oil Pollution Levy and provided three options for the Maritime Levy. Public consultation on the options was held in late 2025, and we thank the sector for their submissions. Cabinet recognised that efficiencies have been made by Maritime NZ, and many in the sector supported an increase to levies to retain activity levels at which Maritime NZ is currently performing.
However, Cabinet also acknowledged the current impacts of rising fuel costs and the cumulative effect of recent price increases on the shipping and wider maritime sector, particularly international shipping and cruise.
Therefore, Cabinet agreed to Option 2, a small increase to cover some inflationary costs. This means Maritime Levy rates will increase by 6.35% for the period from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2028 and then fall to an increase of 2.5% for the remaining two years of levy period.
The first year is a higher increase to cover redundancy costs. As the levy increase does not cover the shortfall, Maritime NZ is now going through a considered process to determine necessary changes to the organisation and work programme to address funding pressures and remain solvent.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/maritime-levy-review-outcome/