3.4 Regulation of licensees
Subject to limitations following from international law, the proposed Act stipulates that licensees under the Norwegian Petroleum Act,(1) Act of 29 November 1996 no. 72. Seabed Minerals Act,(2) Act of 22 March 2019 no. 7. Aquaculture Act(3) Act of 17 June 2005 no. 79. and Offshore Energy Act(4) Act of 04 June 2010 no. 21. are required to ensure that their own employees on board ships, and employees on board ships of their contractors and any subcontractors directly contributing to the performance of the contract, are guaranteed Norwegian wage and working conditions when the ship is in Norwegian ports, internal waters, the Norwegian territorial sea, the Norwegian exclusive economic zone, or in the waters above the Norwegian continental shelf.
The regulation of licensees is based on the coastal State’s sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting natural resources in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf, as well as on its territorial sovereignty when regulating licensees on its territory.(5) UNCLOS arts. 56, 77 and 2. The proposed regulation of licensees is devised to avoid exercising any form of jurisdiction over foreign-flagged ships that are outside Norwegian territory and not performing cabotage, while still securing Norwegian wage and working conditions in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf.
The proposed Act is thus different from e.g. Australian or Canadian legislation regulating ships in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf.(6) Fair Work Act 2009 (No. 28, 2009, Compilation No. 36) section 33 (1) c) and d) [Australia]; Coasting Trade Act (S.C. 1992, c. 31) section 2 (1) [Canada]. In the proposed Act, wage and working conditions on board the ships are only regulated indirectly, through the licensee. Consequently, limitations on coastal State jurisdiction over ships, such as the right of innocent passage or the exclusive flag State jurisdiction outside territorial waters, need not be taken into account.