Mandatory registration
Applies to all norwegian vessels of a maximum lenght of 15 meters or more, provided that they are not entered in the registry of another country.                                         

Voluntary registration
 Norwegian vessels with a minimum lenght of less than 15 metres and with a minimum lenght of at least 10 metres
 if registration is mandatory pursuant to the Act concerning Registration and Marking of Fishing Vessel    
 vessels which exclusively or primarely are to be used for commercial purposes (regardless of size)
 floating cranes, floating docks, dredgers etc;
 floating installations as well as hovercrafts 
 permanent installations for exploration and explotation of natural subsea deposits other than petroleum 
 drilling rigs and similar moving platforms                    

Regulations on Ownership
The owner of a vessel i NOR must fulfill the Nationality requirements set out in the Norwegian Maritime Act § 1.EU citizen or company are equalized to Norwegian citizen or company and can be registered as owner without establishing a company in Norway.

Management of the vessel
Ships registered by Non-Norwegian owner shall be operated by a Norwegian shipping company with its head office in Norway.
This means either technical (manning, outfitting, maintanance, etc.) or commercial operation (chartering, marketing, etc.) of the vessel. The vessel can also be operated wholly or partly from management offices abroad which are owned by a Norwegian shipping company with its head office in Norway.

REGISTER OF VESSEL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Vessel under construction may be registered in this part of the Norwegian Ship Register provided that the minimum lenght of the vessel will be at least 10 metres.
Ship Building Contract may be registered in the case that the building not yet has started.