In accordance with Regulation concerning the Manning of Norwegian Ships, which in turn is based on IMO Resolution A.890(21) “Principles of Safe Manning”, the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) determines so-called safe manning levels upon applications from shipowners.
The NMA is determined to support tripartite cooperation and therefore requires that employee representatives are involved in the application process.
The proposed safe manning shall cover all relevant operations, tasks and functions required to safely operate the ship. In the application, the shipowner must substantiate that the crew members proposed for safe manning are capable of carrying out these responsibilities. Safe manning is the minimum manning level a ship may have in order to operate.
The NMA regulation must not be understood to be a regulation determining the correct manning in all situations.
Actual work load on the vessel may vary greatly depending on type of vessel, market segment, route, other traffic, etc. Furthermore, the shipowner may instruct the crew to carry out tasks in addition to the tasks attributed to safe manning. Examples of such tasks may be the running of a restaurant, sale of tickets, carrying out maintenance not critical to safety.
The shipowner has thus a duty to make constant assessments of the manning of the vessel. This requirement is stipulated both in the Manning Regulation and in Regulations of 5 January 2014 No. 1191 on a safety management system for Norwegian ships and mobile offshore units. It is the shipowner’s duty to ensure that the operation of the vessel is within the boundaries of rules and regulations.
The Regulation applies to Norwegian passenger vessels irrespective of size and cargo vessels of 50 gross tonnage and upwards, unless otherwise provided by the individual provisions. For vessels that are only used for training and teaching purposes, and for vessels employed in pilot or rescue service, the Regulation only applies as stipulated by the Norwegian Maritime Authority in each individual case.
Application for Safe Manning
Application for Safe Manning(KS 0308 and KS 0308-1) should be submitted by the shipownes.
KS 0308 and KS 0308-1is pdf-files, which can be filled in on-screen and submitted as an enclosure to an e-mail sent to post@sdir.no.