Protected or Historical Passenger Ships
This section provides information about vessels that are listed as protected or historical by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, and which may be certified under the Preservation Regulation.
A Passenger Certificate (see section 20) may be issued to any vessel that is listed as protected or historical by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage and carries more than 12 passengers on domestic voyages, cf. the Preservation Regulation section 1 and 3.
- The Preservation Regulation does not apply to ships operating in scheduled services outside of lakes and rivers.
- This certificate cannot be issued to protected or historical passenger ships that operate in scheduled services outside lakes and rivers, operate in international voyages, or are intended to operate in the territorial waters around Svalbard.
Applicable Regulations for Protected or Historical Passenger Ships
The Preservation Regulation establishes alternative rules concerning protected or historical vessels.
In addition, circular RSR 3-2014: “Regulation on special provisions for ships that are protected or preserved and carry more than 12 passengers” contains supplementary information about the regulation. The circular is in Norwegian, please contact the administration for more information.
The Preservation Regulation includes specific requirements in the following areas:
- Construction requirements (Chapter 2)
- Stability, load line, and freeboard (Chapter 3)
- Fire safety (Chapter 4)
- Life-saving appliances (Chapter 5)
- Passenger capacity calculation and requirements for passenger areas (Chapter 6)
This means that when the regulation provides special rules, for example concerning life-saving appliances, other regulations on life-saving appliances do not apply to ships certified under this regulation.
In areas where no specific rules are provided by the Preservation Regulation, other relevant regulations apply depending on the scope of each individual regulation.
Issuance of a passenger certificate requires that the vessel meets the requirements of the Preservation Regulation as well as other applicable regulations, cf. §§ 3 and 5 of the Preservation Regulation.
Application for Certificate for Protected or Historical Passenger Ships
If certification under the Preservation Regulation is desired, an application must be submitted to the Norwegian Maritime Authority.
The application must include the following:
- General information about the vessel (name, call sign, year of construction, etc.)
- Requested operational limitation (Hs)
- Desired passenger capacity
- Documentation or reference to previously submitted documentation demonstrating compliance with the requirements of the regulation
- In addition, the form KS-0115 "Request for Inspection of Vessel" must be submitted.
Documentation Requirements for Protected or Historical Passenger Ships
Documentation as specified in section 43 of the Preservation Regulation must be submitted and fully processed before a passenger certificate can be issued for a protected or historical vessel.
Rebuilding or Modification of Protected or Historical Passenger Ships
The shipping company must notify the Norwegian Maritime Authority when an agreement for the conversion of a vessel has been entered into.
More information on rebuilding or modification is available here.
