NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Kristian Lindhartsen, Lilly Kathrin Relling and Tobias Kilde, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
Norwegian waters up to longitude 62 degrees are part of the North Sea emission control area (ECA), designated in MARPOL, with a 0.10% limit to SOx and particulate matter emissions. On 1 March 2019, the 0.10% limit was extend - ed to also cover the Norwegian world heritage area, which includes the fjords north of this area, as set out in the Regulations of 30 May 2012 No 488 on environmental safety for ships and mobile offshore units. Outside an established ECA, the applicable limit is 0.5%. Specific requirements have also been intro - duced on passenger ships sailing on a route to or from harbours in the EEA that are located in Norwegian territorial waters or exclusive eco - nomic zones, with an applicable limit of 1.5%. Multiple sanctions are available if a breach is established, including orders, fines and with - drawal of permits. The vessel also risks deten - tion, and the party inducing the breach may risk prison if there are serious breaches as a result of gross negligence or wilful misconduct. 8.3 Trade Sanctions In general, any sanction introduced by the UN or the EU will be incorporated into Norwegian law. The Law on Sanctions allows for UN sanc - tions, sanctions introduced by other intergov - ernmental organisations and sanctions aimed at maintaining peace and security that have broad international support to be incorporated into domestic law. This gives the Parliament the necessary legal grounds to implement sanctions introduced internationally into domestic law. EU sanctions are not included in the EEA Agree - ment, and the Norwegian state has therefore decided to implement these as a political deci - sion, albeit with some exceptions. For instance, Norway has an exception that allows for Russian
fishing vessels to call at Norwegian ports. The prohibition on Russian vessels calling at Nor - wegian ports does not apply to Svalbard due to special considerations connected to the Sval - bard Treaty. There is very limited case law on the conse - quences of the sanctions imposed against Rus - sia in Norwegian law. However, one exception is the court case brought by ship-owners Havila Kystruten. The vessel, Havila Capella, was oper - ated by Kystruten but financed through a Hong Kong leasing company that was owned by Rus - sian financing firm GTLK, which itself was owned by the Russian Ministry of Transport. Due to the financial leasing agreement, GTLK was listed as the formal owner of Capella. Following the increasingly strict sanctions on Russia, the insur - ance company terminated the vessel’s insur - ance. While the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted a dispensation from the sanc - tions for the use of the vessel, it did not grant a dispensation for the insurance of the vessel. In its rejection, it was stated that a dispensation would entail money being placed at the Russian owner’s disposal. To operate the vessel, Kystruten therefore brought the issue to court, seeking arrest of the vessel to obtain ownership thereof. The court was also asked to consider whether the vessel should be subjected to forced use. In June 2022, Hordaland County Court decided to grant Havila Kystruten both arrest and forced use for a period of up to two years, giving Havila Kystruten the possibility to insure the vessel and operate it as normal. 8.4 International Conflict(s) The Norwegian Ship-Owners’ Association has reported that the war in Ukraine has had a signif - icant impact on the Norwegian shipping indus -
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