NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Kristian Lindhartsen, Lilly Kathrin Relling and Tobias Kilde, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
defines what constitutes a maritime claim and corre - sponds with Article 1 (1) of the 1952 Arrest Conven - tion. In addition, Norwegian law introduces a special requirement that there is a “genuine need for security” (Section 33-2 of the NDA). This goes beyond the 1952 Convention and means, in essence, that the claimant must establish that the debtor’s behaviour indicates that the enforcement of the claim will be prejudiced or would have to take place outside of Norwegian jurisdiction if the court does not grant the arrest. The requirement will usually be found satisfied if the debtor has failed to pay a clear debt, failed to respond to reminders, taken steps to remove their assets from Norwegian jurisdiction, etc. However, it is underlined that this represents a complication in terms of obtain - ing a ship arrest in Norway. 5.2 Maritime Liens Section 51 of the Norwegian Maritime Code provides an exhaustive list of the following claims that are pro - tected as a maritime lien: • wages and other sums due to the Master and other persons employed on board in respect of their employment on the vessel; • port, canal and other waterway dues and pilotage dues; • damages in respect of loss of life or personal injury occurring in direct connection with the operation of the ship; • damages in respect of loss of or damage to prop - erty, occurring in direct connection with the opera - tion of the ship, provided the claim is not capable of being based on contract; and • salvage reward, compensation for wreck removal and general average contribution. Maritime liens enjoy special protection under Norwe - gian law, and the arrest of a ship is allowed irrespec - tive of whether the requirement of “genuine need for security” (Section 33-2 of the NDA) is satisfied. Norwegian law differentiates between maritime liens and maritime claims, with the latter category covering a broader array of claims. An arrest can be sought in respect of all maritime claims. However, for mari -
time claims that do not qualify for a maritime lien, the requirement of “genuine need for security” must also be satisfied. 5.3 Liability in Personam for Owners or Demise Charterers Norwegian law generally requires that the owner of the ship must be the debtor of the maritime claim giving rise to the arrest, meaning Norwegian law does not acknowledge action “in rem”. The exception is certain claims that are secured by a maritime lien, thus giving The bunker supplier (both contractual and actual sup - plier) may apply for an arrest for a claim relating to bunkers supplied by them, provided that the debt - or owns the vessel for which arrest is sought. If the bunkers in question were supplied to a charter (time charterer or bareboat charterer), an arrest can only be obtained on the bunkers actually delivered. The charterer does not have the authority to bind the ves - sel independently. In accordance with Section 33-2 of the NDA, the bunker supplier must prove a genuine need for security to achieve an arrest. 5.5 Arresting a Vessel grounds for an arrest. 5.4 Unpaid Bunkers Arresting a ship in Norway is considered to be rela - tively straightforward, and can be arranged quickly and at a reasonable cost. It is not necessary for the claimant to provide any documents in their original form, and legal counsel does not need to present a power of attorney from the claimant. A security deposit from the arresting party can be required, which in accordance with Section 97 of the Norwegian Maritime Code must be at least equivalent to port dues for the next 14 days, as well as possi - bly also expected damages for wrongful arrest. If the arresting party is the public authority or the claim in question is a crew claim secured by a lien, the court can disregard the security requirement at its own dis - cretion. 5.6 Arresting Bunkers and Freight Bunkers on board, claims for hire payment and claims for insurance proceeds and bank accounts can be arrested. The prerequisite is that the bunkers must
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