Norway Extends Timetable for Study on Strengthening Flag

A task force assigned to identify ways to enhance the competitiveness of the Norway International Ship Register has been granted two more months to work on the project.

IHS Fairplay reports:

More time for Norwegian flag rescue plan

A working group tasked with finding ways to make the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS) more attractive by lifting its current trade restrictions has received two more months time to finish its work.

The working group, which was set up in March with Professor Jacob Bull as its chairman, had been scheduled to present its findings on 1 July.

Monica Maeland, Minister of the Economy and Fisheries, said: “It is good that the working group works well and constructively. This is an important working group for the Norwegian maritime industry and I hope that the extended deadline will contribute to unanimous solutions.”

NIS was introduced to reverse a fall in Norwegian flag merchant fleet in 1987. At that time, the Norwegian-owned merchant fleet comprised mostly tankers and dry bulk carriers that did not call at Norwegian ports. They benefited from the register’s wage regime, which avoided higher Norwegian requirements but, as a consequence, NIS registered vessels were excluded from cabotage trades.

However, in the past decade, the Norwegian owned offshore services fleet has expended rapidly – far more so than the tanker and bulker fleets. This means more Norwegian owners operate on the country’s continental shelf and to do so must use foreign flags or the expensive Norwegian Ordinary Ship Register (NOS). This has caused the decline in local owners using NIS.