Off shore work and work permits

The Dutch Continental Shelf (DCS) is a busy place. Besides fishing and mining, more and more windmill parks are placed in sea as well. To service these industries many providers work in this area, also known as the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone. Especially, since Brexit our firm receives many questions on the need for work permits for non-EU employees and contractors working in Dutch waters. In this article I will outline the requirements.

Dutch territorial waters

The first question at hand is whether the work falls under the Dutch jurisdiction for work permits. This is only the case in the Dutch territorial waters (12 mile zone), and not in the full Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone. This means that any work carried out fully outside of the 12 mile zone, never requires any work permits.However, if the work is carried out (partly) in Dutch territorial water, so within the 12 mile zone, as a general rule a work permit is required for any worker that does not hold an EU passport. These workers are called ‘third-country nationals’.  The nature of the work or the duration of the work is not relevant for the work permit requirement. Obviously, the work permit requirement is also applicable when a ship is docked in a Dutch harbour.

Work permit exemptions

However, there are two main exemptions applicable to the general work permit requirement. These waivers make that the work can be carried out without a work permit or prior approval.

1.Crew work (Schepelingendienst)

The first waiver crew work (in Dutch know under a beautiful and untranslatable word: ‘Schepelingendienst’). The work that is carried out by registered crew of a seagoing vessel that consists of nothing more than the daily care for the ship, the crew, the passengers and the cargo is exempted, as long as the work is carried out partly off shore. For inland waters this waiver is not applicable. The crewmember must have their main place of residence outside of The Netherlands.  Please note that the exemption sometimes can be applicable to part of the crew only. For example, when digging trenches for windmill parks, the exemption is applicable to the officers and seaman, but not to the engineer that is controlling the Tracked Remotely Operated Vehicle (TROV)

2. Work on board of a ship for international traffic

The second exemption is work on board of a ship for international traffic. The ship must be registered abroad, and the crew member must have an employment contract with a non-Dutch entity.

Work permit options

Our firm has much experience in advising the offshore industry on (the need for) work permit in Dutch waters. We can generally quickly and at a low, fixed, fee analyse whether a work permit is needed, if any. If a work permit is needed, we generally work with the following categories:

International trade regulation: this is one of our preferred solutions. The International Trade Regulation provides work authorization for certain projects. Workers can be notified under the project and are authorized to work in two days.

Highly skilled migrant or Intra company transfer: for certain categories of workers in the offshore industry the Highly Skilled Migrant or the various Intra company transfer permits offer a quick and efficient way to obtain individual residence permits.

Regular work permit: there are many varieties in the regular work permit. Based on the specific category of regular work permit, the processing time, required documents and predictability of the outcome vary immensely. Naturally, we don’t advise to apply for unpredictable permits with long processing time. However, sometimes a specific situation fits one of the other categories well, and we can obtain an individual work permit in a few weeks.

Please don’t hesitate to contact our firm if you have questions on work permits for off shore work. We like to provide smooth and quick solutions for a reasonable fixed fee.