5.3 National regulation
The Maritime Employment Act of 2013 Section 1-2 says that the act is applicable for employment on board a “Norwegian vessel”, and whether a ship is, in this sense, Norwegian, depends upon the requirements of the Maritime Code - which basically means that the vessel needs to be owned by Norwegians and operated from Norway.
Section 1-2 is, the Court says, a choice of law rule (para. 29 and 30), and this is supported by a detailed examination of the preparatory works (travaux préparatoires), both to the act and to earlier legislation on maritime employment. The conclusion is that the national factors support the view that Section 1-2 is intended to be in conformity with the flag state principle of international law.