Ships under construction in Norway and contracts for the construction of ships in Norway may upon application be entered into a separate chapter of the Ship Register (the Shipbuilding Register). Such registration also encompasses hulls, major hull sections or main engines built outside the Kingdom, in cases where delivery by the foreign shipyard has taken place. 

Notification for registration shall be made by:

  • the owner in the case of a ship under construction or
  • by the purchaser in the case of a building contract.

When a contract is entered in the Register, registration thereof also protects the rights of the purchaser in respect of the ship as from the commencement of its construction.

A declaration by a shipyard of a decision to build a ship on its own account is regarded as equivalent to a contract

See the Norwegian Maritime Code of 24 June 1994 No. 39 S. 31