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Norway is considering making small boat registration mandatory

Robin-Ivan Capar
Robin-Ivan Capar - [email protected]
Norway is considering making small boat registration mandatory
The Norwegian government is seeking to implement stricter registration requirements for small boat owners. Photo by Stock Birken / Unsplash

The Norwegian government is considering making it compulsory to register all small boats in the country.

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There are an estimated one million recreational boats in Norway. Now, the government want stricter registration requirements for boat owners.

"We see that several organizations want a mandatory small boat register. There may be good reasons to introduce it in the interests of maritime safety and the fight against crime.

"Abandoned recreational boats can also be an environmental problem," Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bjørnar Skjæran stated in a press release.

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Today, registration is mandatory for boats longer than 15 metres. Furthermore, the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (Redningsselskapet) also keeps a voluntary small boat register.

"It is high time to address the major pollution problem posed by old small boats. A mandatory small boat register will enable boats to be traced back to their owners and thus contribute to reducing the extent of abandoned small boats," Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide warned.

"We will assess the effects and the possible arrangement of such a mandatory register and then make a decision," Skjæran added.

The evaluation work will be a collaboration between multiple Norwegian ministries.

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