NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Kristian Lindhartsen, Lilly Kathrin Relling and Tobias Kilde, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
2. Ship Finance and Leasing 2.1 Ship Loan Finance
• if the mortgagee/holder of the right is a foreign body, a notary public must confirm both the iden - tity and authority of the person signing the amend - ment (after which, the notary’s signature must be legalised by a Norwegian foreign service station or by the amendment of an apostille). It should also be noted that the new mortgage/right must be forwarded, in its original form, to the Depart - ment of Ship Registration with a binding signature in the following circumstances: • if the mortgagor is a Norwegian-registered com - pany, it must be signed according to the certificate of company registration; and • if the mortgagor is a foreign entity, a notary public must confirm the identity and authority of the per - son signing (after which, the signature of the notary must be legalised by a Norwegian foreign service station or by the amendment of an apostille). From 1 January 2024, NOR, NIS and BYGG have allowed for fully electronic and fully automatic reg - istration of ships and rights in ships. This requires access to the nationally used platform BankID, which is a personal electronic identification used for identi - fication and signing online. This option significantly reduces processing time. If the electronic option is not used, the documents submitted must be originals, and should not be sent for deposit more than three weeks prior to the sched - uled registration (the sender must include a statement to this effect). The documents will be returned to the sender without registration if there is no scheduled registration within three weeks. 1.7 Ship Ownership and Mortgages Registry All three ship registries in Norway are open to the pub - lic, and are searchable by name and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number of the vessel on www.sdir.no. The information available to the public includes the full details of the owner(s) of the vessel.
Secured loans from banks dominate Norwegian ship financing because they provide lenders with strong legal protection and predictable enforcement through a first-priority mortgage. Lenders in Norway almost always require additional security beyond the ship mortgage. For new-builds, Norway has a strong tradition of Export Credit Agency financing through Eksfin, which can cover up to 80–85% of the contract price for Nor - wegian-built vessels, and up to 100% of Norwegian equipment value for foreign builds. Eksfin shares risk with commercial banks and requires the same securi - ties package as the bank. High-yield bonds are also widely used in the Norwe - gian market, typically with a trustee structure using standardised Nordic bond terms. On the equity side, Norwegian shipping companies frequently use project-financing structures through special-purpose vehicles, often syndicated among investors. Sale-leaseback transactions are also com - mon, especially for new-builds, often combined with support from Eksfin. The registration of mortgages is under the administra - tive control of the Norwegian Maritime Authority, and the registration can be made in NOR, NIS or BYGG. Voluntarily established mortgages can only obtain legal protection against third parties through registra - tion. 2.2 Ship Leasing Ship leasing transactions – particularly sale-lease - backs – have become increasingly common in ship financing. This development is largely driven by struc - tural changes in the financial market – with traditional banks operating under stricter capital requirements, Norwegian ship-owners face growing demands for liquidity and flexibility. In addition, Chinese leasing houses offer competitive terms. The legal and commercial relationship between a lessor and lessee differs significantly from that of a
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