Norwegian International Ship Register
Encyclopedia
Norwegian International Ship Register or NIS is a separate Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 ship register for Norwegian vessels aimed at competing with flags of convenience registers like Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

 etc. Originally proposed by Erling Dekke Næss
Erling Dekke Næss
Erling Dekke Næss, was a Norwegian shipowner and businessman. Brother of philosopher Arne Dekke Næss, his nephew was the mountaineer and businessman Arne Næss Jr.. Best known for his early adoption of flags of convenience, Næss was Deputy Head of Nortraship's New York office from 1942 to 1946....

 in 1984 it was established in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

 in 1987 and is managed by the Norwegian Ship Registers
Norwegian Ship Registers
The Norwegian Ship Registers, sometimes called NIS-NOR is a Norwegian government agency responsible for operating the Norwegian International Ship Register, the Norwegian Ship Register and the Norwegian Shipbuilding Register. The register is subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and...

. In 2010, it was the 12th ship register by gross weight representing 1% of the global shipping weight.

Objectives

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
    Flag of Norway
    The flag of Norway is red with an indigo blue Scandinavian cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark.- History :...

    .
  • 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 United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

     (UN), International Maritime Organization
    International Maritime Organization
    The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...

     (IMO) and International Labour Organization
    International Labour Organization
    The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...

     (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 .

Criticism

There has been some criticism during the years on countries that have opened second registers like Norway, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 (GIS) and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. 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.
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