14 crew members arrested

Police arrested 14 crew members of the former Hurtigruten vessel "Nordstjernen" in the morning of Apr 6, 2017, at the quay in Bodø center. The crew worked for many years for the company. The ship had sailed two tours in Northern Norway in recent weeks in the so-called Arctic Haute Route, between Tromsø and Bodø. The men were arrested on suspicion of violating the Immigration Act. Police was investigating both the work and the working conditions of those arrested. After Hurtigruten sold the ship a few years ago, the company periodically rented it from Vestland Marine to cruises and special sailings. Hurtigruten has hundreds of subcontractors. The Vestland Marine was founded in 1997 and now has its base in Gdynia. It started its operations with the passenger ship in 2014. The 14 arrested were Philippine nationals. The rest of the crew of 25 consisted of Polish and Lithuanian nationals, and two Norwegians. The company, which owns five ships, had hired the crew seven days on two different trips. Until April 27 the same crew worked additional nine days on two separate trips. The company said there has been a misunderstanding caused by different perceptions about work permits for non-EU and Schengen. The ship arrived in Bodø under the so-called NIS register (Norwegian International Ship). - But under the 16 effective sailing days they sail under NOR (Norwegian Ordinary Ship Register). On April 27th they would be back in NIS, before the ship will enter the yard in Haugesund, before it will be sailing in Svalbard.