Cook Islands

The Cook Islands, in the South Pacific, offer a ship register that is also open to foreign owners, with procedures largely online. We help you choose the ownership structure and handle the registration for you.

Who runs the register

The register is administered by Maritime Cook Islands (MCI), which includes the office of the Registrar of Ships in Rarotonga and also operates through satellite offices abroad, including one in Italy.

Who can register a vessel

The Ship Registration Act 2007 requires the vessel to be owned by (or bareboat chartered to) a qualified person. There are several ways to become a qualified person:

• joining the Cook Islands Yacht Squadron, which lets you register the yacht without setting up a company; foreign companies can also join;
• setting up an international company in the Cook Islands through a licensed trustee company;
• registering an existing foreign company in the Cook Islands.

Which vessels

Registration is available for private yachts, for commercial yachts (carrying up to 12 passengers, with surveys under the LY3 code or the Cook Islands large yacht code) and dual registration. Private yachts under 24 metres undergo a self-assessment survey, carried out by a competent person or an approved surveyor.

Advantages

• Registration without setting up a company, through the Yacht Squadron.
• Online application, and support from the register in Italian too.
• Registration of ship mortgages.

How we help

• Identifying the most suitable ownership solution.
• Completing the declaration and the online application, and gathering the documents.
• Coordination with the register and with the surveyors for inspections.

Contact us using the form at the bottom of the page with the vessel's details: we will tell you how to proceed.

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