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Fellesforbundet and Sjømannsforbundet have joined forces to report the Hurtigruten to the police for violating the immigration law on the ship MS ‘Fridtjof Nansen’.
REVIEWER: The unions believe that Hurtigruten is breaking the law because the ship is considered a hotel and that therefore you must have a work permit to be able to work in Norway. The picture shows the ship MS ‘Fridtjof Nansen’.
Bodo Marks, DPA
Published:,
The report was handed over to the Møre og Romsdal police district on Monday night.
The ship MS “Fridtjof Nansen” will operate for a month as a hotel for Tom Cruise and the rest of the film production during the filming of the seventh edition of “Mission Impossible”. The ship is moored at Hellesylt and the crew will consist mainly of Filipino workers.
Fellesforbundet and Sjømannsforbundet believe this is illegal and have reported Hurtigruten to the police for violating the immigration law. Therefore, they believe that the ship is considered a hotel and that, therefore, it is necessary to have a work permit to be able to work in Norway.
– The police are familiar with the case and do not rule out the control of the ship, the head of the section Svein Rike of Immigration and Border Control in the police district of Møre og Romsdal tells VG.
REVIEWER: – This is simply reprehensible behavior on Hurtigruten’s part, says Jørn Eggum on Fellesforbundet.
Mattis sandblad
Outsmart Norwegian workers
– It is completely unsustainable that it is only possible to dock a ship with a salary of up to NOK 29 per hour, says union leader Johnny Hansen of the Norwegian Seafarers Association.
The MS “Fridtjof Nansen” is an expedition cruiser that sails under NIS flags and is therefore subject to international rules, unlike ships registered in NOR. Hurtigruten therefore uses Filipino crew, which according to the Norwegian Seamen’s Association earn up to 29 kroner at the current dollar exchange rate.
THE LAW COMES: The Norwegian Seafarers Association believes the ship should be used by Norwegian seafarers who have been sacked.
Ole Palmstrøm, LO Media
– It is not okay to use a ship that is going to ship internationally as a hotel in Stryn, close your eyes and hope that no one finds out that employees are not close to the pay and working conditions that are statutory, says Fellesforbund. leader Jørn Eggum to VG.
This is happening at the same time that around 300-400 Norwegian sailors are laid off from their jobs at Hurtigruten, people that the Norwegian Seamen’s Association believes should get the job:
– The state pays unemployment benefits to Norwegian seafarers at the same time as Hurtigruten, who flies with a Filipino crew. It’s as far as possible to participate in the national charity event, says leader Johnny Hansen.
Similar case last year: Crew expelled
Fellesforbundet believes that the “hotel ship” outperforms hotels on land, where several of its members work.
– This is simply reprehensible behavior on Hurtigruten’s part. Here are some in the company who abandon their social responsibility and want to make as much money as possible.
Both Eggum and Johnsen point out that the criticism is aimed at management greed, not at the workers in the Philippines.
– If the police or the labor inspectorate do not crack down on this, the government must intervene. It may be impossible to be a “Mission Impossible,” says Eggum.
In 2019, police reported the Arctic Explorer MV “Quest” ship’s operations director for having operated the ship as a hotel in Tromsø. Seven foreign workers were detained by the police and sent out of the country. Police thought they were not allowed to work in Norway, Nordlys wrote.
The Norwegian Seamen’s Association has previously reported the case to the Norwegian Maritime Directorate, later for violation of the NIS Act.
In principle, NIS vessels can sail in Norwegian waters, if they have passed through two ports before or after. The union believes it has violated this law because it is located on the pier and functions as a hotel. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate concluded that the ship does not violate regulations.
Hurtigruten: within the law
Hurtigruten says the use of the ship is within the rules for NIS ships.
– The Norwegian Maritime Directorate has confirmed this. The employees are seafarers operating within the framework that applies to the crew of NIS vessels. The Norwegian Seamen’s Association is well aware that there is no “social dumping” on NIS ships, says the director of government contact, Anne Marit Bjørnflaten.
NO SOCIAL DUMPING: – The Norwegian Seafarers Association is well aware that there is no “social dumping” on NIS ships, says Hurtigruten’s Anne Marit Bjørnflaten.
Hurtigruten
“MS” Fridtjof Nansen “has not been chosen to save costs, but because the ship is best suited for this task, especially for infection control reasons, he adds.
She says Hurtigruten has asked the Norwegian Seamen’s Association for a dialogue on where the salary level should be, and that Hurtigruten will offer salaries at the Norwegian level.
– It is therefore difficult to understand why the Norwegian Seamen’s Association makes such baseless accusations, says Bjørnflaten.
Corona infection in MS “Fridtjof Nansen”
On Monday evening, a MS “Fridtjof Nansen” crew member was reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus after returning to the Philippines in late August.
Last week it was also announced that Belgian Albert Facq died in April of covid-19 after falling ill in March during a trip with the same ship. Then the ship’s doctor diagnosed him with another illness.
