NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Kristian Lindhartsen, Lilly Kathrin Relling and Tobias Kilde, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
NIS is regulated by a special act called Lov om norsk internasjonalt skipsregister (the “NIS-law”). 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels For NOR, a vessel must be owned by a Norwegian or European Economic Area (EEA) person/entity. Vessels with foreign ownership may register in NIS. The conditions for registration are set out in Section 1 of the NIS-law. To be eligible for registration, the owner must satisfy the conditions for a vessel to be regarded as a Norwegian ship (even when the owner is a Norwegian national) contained in Section 1 of the Norwegian Maritime Code. If these conditions are not met, the vessel can still register in NIS if the owner: • is a limited company, public limited company or a limited partnership with its head office in Norway; • is a ship-owning partnership with a managing reder (person or company) who satisfies the provisions relating to managing reder (person or company) in Chapter 5 of the Norwegian Maritime Code; or • has appointed a representative who is authorised to accept writs on its behalf, if the owner does not satisfy the two previous conditions (the repre - sentative must fulfil the nationality requirements for managing reder (person or company) as set out in Section 103 of the Norwegian Maritime Code). If the vessel is registered in accordance with these options, it is a legal requirement that the vessel be operated by a Norwegian shipping company, which is understood to mean either its technical management (manning, outfitting, maintenance, etc) or its commer - cial operation (chartering, marketing, etc). The vessel can also be operated wholly or partly from management offices abroad, assuming they are owned by a Norwegian shipping company with its head office in Norway. The foregoing requirements are in place to avoid NIS becoming a flag of convenience, and to ensure that a vessel can only be registered where the Norwegian authorities can exercise a certain level of control.
A vessel under construction in Norway, or a contract for the construction of a vessel in Norway, can be reg - istered in a separate register, the Ship-Building Reg - ister (BYGG), which is a sub-division of NOR. Vessels under construction abroad cannot be registered in BYGG. The prerequisite is that the vessel must be at least ten metres long. The application must be submit - ted by the owner (if the vessel is under construction) or by the buyer (if it is a ship-building contract). 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels Bareboat registration in and out of the Norwegian ship registers has been permitted since 1 July 2020. Foreign vessels (both passenger and cargo ships), as well as drilling platforms and other mobile offshore units, may be bareboat-registered in NIS and NOR while having permanent registration in another state. To be registered, a vessel must be at least 15 metres long, and both the ship-owner and the mortgagee(s) must give their consent before permission to register is granted. 1.6 Registration of Mortgages The registration of mortgages is under the administra - tive control of the Norwegian Maritime Authority, and the registration can be in NOR, NIS or BYGG. Vol - untarily established mortgages can only obtain legal protection through registration. The registries include information about all registered rights in a vessel, as well as their priority. The registry will also contain information if it has been agreed that a sale or further mortgages are forbidden. As many mortgages include a clause prohibiting further mort - gages, the mortgagee must either consent to registra - tion of the new mortgage/right or sign the mortgage for deletion. The amendment must be made in the original document. The following document requirements are applicable: • consent to the registration of a new mortgage/right requires specification of a new creditor, face value and currency; • if the mortgagee/holder of the right is a company, the endorsement must have a binding signature according to the certificate of company registra - tion; and
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