Since the summer of 2019, Oslo Bulk has registered a total of 14 ships, two of which have been bareboat charter registered.
“The fifteenth ship, the Oslo Forest 3, is expected to be bareboat charter registered in the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve”, explains Dag Rømmen, board member of Oslo Forest AS, which is a subsidiary of Oslo Bulk.
From Singapore to Oslo
Since 2019, Oslo Bulk has not only registered 14 ships, but also moved their headquarters from Singapore to Oslo.
“The main reason for us moving is related to our operation. Oslo Bulk currently operates 10–15 ships in semi-liner services in the Caribbean and just over 20 ships operating between the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea through the Swedish subsidiary Dalaro Shipping AB. This makes it more convenient to be located in Norway than Singapore – particularly since our leaders are Norwegian”, Rømmen says to the Norwegian Maritime Authority.
Exciting
Mats Sæther at the Nordic Shipowners' Association has been involved in this historical process.
“Handling the first bareboat charter registrations in the NIS – and not one but two ships – has been very exciting”, says Sæther.
Please also read: Norway permits bareboat charter registration in the Norwegian ship registers
Actually, Sæther completed a master’ thesis on bareboat charter registration in 2002. Since then, he has been involved in the process of drafting amendments to the NIS Act and the Norwegian Maritime Code which allowed for such registration earlier this year.
Oslo Forest 1 and Oslo Forest 2 are registered in Cyprus by their Cypriot owner and are now bareboat registered in the NIS by Oslo Forest as bareboat charterer.
“Everything was done in one morning at a virtual meeting at Microsoft Teams and thanks to quick and efficient service from the Ship Registers”, says Sæther content.
A welcome change
At the Ship Registers, Senior Adviser Tone Olsen Risnes helped complete the registration.
“I’m delighted to have taken part in this process. The changes have been requested by the industry for a very long time”, says the Senior Advise.
Bareboat charter registration increases the flexibility for the shipping industry and, in turn, results in more ships flying the Norwegian flag.