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USED AS A HOTEL BOAT: Hurtigruten’s MS “Fridtjof Nansen” is currently located at the Hellesylt Pier in Møre og Romsdal, where it functions as a hotel for the production company of the new film “Mission: Impossible”. Photo: Odin Jæger
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has allowed Hurtigruten’s MS “Fridtjof Nansen” to function as a hotel ship. This summer, another ship was rejected.
Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø has asked Hurtigruten to change its practice after MS “Fridtjof Nansen” has functioned as a hotel for the production of the new movie “Mission: Impossible”.
This comes after the Norwegian Seamen’s Association notified the Norwegian Maritime Directorate of a possible breach of the NIS Law, a law that will provide better conditions for the competition of Norwegian vessels in foreign trade.
However, the Directorate considered the operation legal, and Hurtigruten has adhered to it.
– Therefore, it is necessary to make it very clear that this type of activity is not allowed, Nybø told VG last week.
At the same time, he has announced a change in regulations because he believes that the regulations are not clear. He also said that the ministry is not aware that the problem of NIS ships used as hotels in Norwegian ports has emerged since 2018.
But in July, the ministry dealt with such a case, documents show that VG has had access. Then the response of the ministry was no.
Ministry: Disagree with NIS rules
On July 27, the Wikborg Rein law firm contacted the ministry with a question about NIS ships as hotel ships in Norway.
“The questions we want answered are whether there is anything that would prevent a NIS registered cruise from being used as a hotel ship for a period of 14 days while the ship is docked (hot storage) in Norway,” writes a employee of the law firm.
The shipping company does not appear in the email.
In response on July 28, a deputy director of the maritime safety and regulation section of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry writes:
“We have previously said that we cannot see that NIS ships used as hotel ships in Norwegian ports are in line for the purpose of the NIS registration.”
VG has asked the ministry questions about the email and has come forward with criticism from the Norwegian Seafarers Association and Terje Aasland (Labor Party), but has yet to receive a response.
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Therefore, the Norwegian Seamen’s Association does not agree that the regulations are not clear.
They believe that the ministry should have taken action as early as 2018. At that time, then-Minister of Commerce and Industry Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H) commented on the use of NIS ships as hotel ships:
‘Regarding the situation of NIS ships used as hotel ships in Norwegian ports, I do not see that it is in line with the purpose of the NIS registry. I want to take a closer look at the issue together with the Norwegian Maritime Directorate, and will address it at the next meeting, “he wrote in a letter to the association on January 18, 2018.
However, the question was not followed up, which the Minister of Commerce and Industry Nybø admitted at Dagbladet was due to a mistake.
Nybø has now asked Hurtigruten for a dishwashing meeting that the ship functions as a hotel. It takes place at 3:45 p.m. on Monday.
STAR STRUCK: The Labor Party believes the government has been blinded by Tom Cruise and given him permits where they don’t belong. Here he is filming in Hellesylt. Photo: Geir Olsen
– Star struck
Terje Aasland of the Labor Party believes that the refusal shows that the law is clear to others, but not to Tom Cruise:
– It seems that the government has become struck star by Tom Cruise, says Aasland.
He asks Nybø to immediately stop the operation of the MS “Fridtjof Nansen” as a hotel ship. Both Fellesforbundet and Sjømannsforbundet agree on:
– What arises here is very important in light of the fact that the Minister has previously denied having received such inquiries. Here, it may appear that Nybø has no control over his own ship, says Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum.
Government contact Stian Grøthe of the Norwegian Seafarers Association believes the case shows that the minister has no order in his own ministry and underlying agencies.
– That the ministry’s answer depends on who you ask is business policy bingo. We hope the minister is clear and asks Hurtigruten to shut down operations immediately, he says the government contacts Stian Grøthe at the Norwegian Seafarers Association.
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Deputy Director and Head of Department Odd Rune Malterud at the Norwegian Association of Engineers has worked for several years with waivers from NIS regulations.
At the end of August, he contacted the Norwegian Maritime Authority and inquired whether Hurtigruten had been granted a dispensation in connection with the filming.
– They deny that any dispensation has been granted. There’s no room for that either, because NIS cruise regulations are already the exception, she says.
Malterud therefore agrees with the Norwegian Seafarers Association that the regulations are not confusing.
