4.9 Bareboat registration(1) More detailed on bareboat registration, see Falkanger, Norwegian rules of 2020 on registration of bareboat charter parties, SIMPLY 2021 (= MarIus No. 565, 2022) pp. 7–27.
In 2020 bareboat registration was introduced in MC in two forms:
Foreign registered ships can be registered temporarily in NOR, upon request from the bareboat charterer (MC Section 40). It is not necessary here to mention the further requirements for such registration. The effects of the registration are that the ship is subject to Norwegian jurisdiction and shall fly the Norwegian flag, but that mortgages, liens or other rights in the ship cannot be registered in NOR (MC Section 40 paragraphs three and four).
A ship on bareboat charter party registered in NOR, can be flagged-out temporarily to a foreign register upon request from the owner. In terms of the requirements for such a transaction and the effects of flag-out, we need only quote MC Section 40b paragraphs three and four:
“A ship bareboat registered in accordance with paragraph one has the right temporarily to fly the flag of another country and shall during this period not be considered Norwegian according to Section 1 of this Code. It does not have the right to fly the Norwegian flag and shall not have Norwegian nationality papers.
Mortgages and lien and other rights remain registered when the ship is registered in another country’s ship register in accordance with paragraph one, and new rights can still be registered in the ship register.”
The rules on bareboat registration in MC Sections 40 to 40c have not been amended in 2023, but the 2023 alterations discussed above will affect transactions concerning bareboat registration, discussed below in relation to registration of rights in the ship.