Foreigner can serve on both NOR and NIS registered ships,

[ombugge]

@cjf1980

The USCG does not issue/accept COE’s, sailing with crew credentialed by another nation is not acceptable on a US flag ship without a waiver. NIS/GIS/FIS/DIS got over this requirement with the International registry. We are not an international registry…yet.

Foreigner can serve on both NOR and NIS registered ships, provided they can obtain a COE from Norwegian Maritime Authorities.

The difference between NIS and NOR is pay. Anybody serving on NOR ships must be paid Norwegian wages, with conditions according to Norwegian Union agreements, regardless of where the ship is operating.

This MAY also be extended to NIS and foreign vessels in Norwegian waters:

New Norwegian legislation concerning pay and working condition on foreign...

The Norwegian government has announced a bill that will set requirements for Norwegian pay and working conditions on NIS and foreign-flagged vessels in Norwegian waters and on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Both NOR and NIS registered ships has to comply with Norwegian and IMO laws and rules, incl. STCW’10 requirements.

Foreign nationals from countries that Norway recognize (as listed here) MAY be granted COEs:

List of maritime administrations (countries) that Norway has an agreement with

Special agreement with US:

In addition, a unilateral agreement has been entered into to allow seamen with certificates issued in the U.S. to serve on board vessels registered in the Norwegian International Ship Register

Sweden doesn’t have an International Register, but foreigners may serve on Swedish ships, incl. in officer positions:

The Swedish Transport Agency approves of qualifications issued by Member States of the EEA and states with which the Swedish Transport Agency has an agreement on approval, presently the Philippines, Russia and India.
The validity period of such approvals corresponds to that of the original document, however limited to five years.

PS> All must meet STCW’10 requirements and have obtained a COE for their position.

[ombugge]

@Ladder

Norwegians protect many jobs with language requirements.
On paper the many of the jobs might be open to anyone but you can’t be considered unless you fluent in Norwegian

For both NOR and NIS ships the language requirement are; “understanding Maritime English” per STCW’10.
The only exception is for ships (ferries) carrying passengers between Norwegian ports, where a “good understanding of spoken Norwegian” is required.

Norway has no Maritime Cabotage Law so a lot of the coastal vessels are flying foreign flags (many FOC registered) and are manned by East Europeans, even if Norwegian owned and operated.
NIS registered Offshore vessels have only recently been allowed to operate in Norwegian EEZ , therefore many Norwegian owned OSVs have been registered in IoM, GiB, MT, and Cy. to be able to operate freely in both Norwegian, UK and EU waters without having to change crews.

Since NIS registered OSVs are now allowed in Norwegian EEZ many owners are “bringing their ships home” (I.e. into NIS register, especially the more complex OSVs) They are still able to operate worldwide with mixed crews.

PS> The attempt to enforce Norwegian pay on foreign OSVs and rigs working in may not work, since it buts up against international treaties Norway has signed up to:

Conclusions
Norwegian employment conditions can only be imposed on foreign flagged offshore service ships in the North Sea support trade if there is jurisdiction to do so under international law and if EEA law or other legal commitments do not rule out the exercise of such jurisdiction

Source: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/horing---utredning-av-norske-lonns--og-arbeidsvilkar-pa-utenlandske-skip/id2662188/Download/?vedleggId=f138a257-0bd4-4b03-b1d4-983a1f10b389

[ombugge]

@Ladder

If it wasn’t for the language requirements vessel operators would probably replace many of the Norwegians with Eastern Europeans and Fillipnos who will accept lower pay and conditions.

There MAY be companies that require Norwegian proficiency on their ship, but from what I see most advertisement for jobs, both offshore and onshore positions, are in English.

[Capt_Phoenix]

@ombugge

There MAY be companies that require Norwegian proficiency on their ship

There definitely are and if you truly don’t know that I’m amazed.

[ombugge]

I haven’t seen or heard of any OSV owner/manager specifying Norwegian proficiency as a condition for employment, whether shore based or on their vessels.

A requirement for English proficiency are often specified for shore based positions, although not always, as all Norwegians below the age of 55 would have had English in school from 4th Grade. (Those below 30 sounds almost like Americans, since they have been exposed to Netflix and American sitcoms all their life)

For seagoing personnel good understanding of Maritime English is a condition of their STCW certificate. (No “national licenses” are issued, except for pleasure crafts between 15.0 and 7.5 m. LOA)

@Capt_Phoenix

There definitely are

Maybe you can find some proof of that?? I haven’t seen any.