Norwegian International Ship Register

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Norwegian International Ship Register, NIS is a separate Norwegian ship register for Norwegian vessels aimed at competing with flags of convenience registers like Panama, Liberia etc. Originally proposed by Erling Dekke Næss in 1984 it was established in Bergen in 1987.

In the years before the register had been established the Norwegian register lost out as it could not compete with lower paid seamen. The main objectives of establishing the register were:

• Maintain the shipping industry under the Norwegian flag.
• Provide better competitive conditions for the Norwegian merchant fleet in worldwide trade.
• Initiate registration requirements in accordance with Norway's obligations under international agreements, (especially UN, IMO & ILO).
• Maintain a Norwegian fleet that could give greater employment opportunities to Norwegian seaman than a foreign flagged fleet.
• Restrict the types of vessels that may be registered.
• Limit the trading areas allowed. (NIS vessels cannot trade cargo between Norwegian ports or carry passengers on a regular basis to or from Norwegian ports.)

The register has been highly successful and in 2002 there were 880 vessels in the register with a total of ca. 21.2 million GRT. (39 million DWT.).

[edit] Criticism

There has been some criticism during the years on countries that have opened second registers like Norway, Germany (GIS) and Denmark (DIS). The fact that under the second register there are no restrictions on the nationality of the crew and the lower safety standards compared to the first register are the main reasons.^[1]

[edit] Referenties

1. ^ Flags of Convenience

[edit] External link

• Official website for both NIS and NOR registers