Royal Greenland convicted of violating manning regulations

Royal Greenland A/S neglected in a number of cases to ensure that officers and other crew on fishing trips complied with the regulations of the manning executive order. Therefore, the company must pay a fine of 135,000 kroner.

This is evident from a judgment handed down by the Greenland High Court on March 18. Royal Greenland had appealed a judgment from the Court of Greenland from February 2025.

Royal Greenland has been convicted of fishing trips with general crew members who did not have a national registry address in Greenland throughout the last two calendar years. This has happened on 23 different fishing trips or similar periods of fishing between 2022 and 2024.

Royal Greenland has also been convicted of three different fishing vessels not being manned with at least 60 percent officers who met the residency requirements in a number of periods.

However, the High Court verdict was milder than the verdict that was appealed from the Court of Greenland in 2025.

The High Court acquitted Royal Greenland of one of the matters concerning officers. In addition, the High Court decided that the fine should be waived for some of the violations. Therefore, the fine was reduced from 165,000 to 135,000 kroner.

RG: There was ambiguity in the rules

Sermitsiaq has received the following comment from Andrias Olsen, trawler director for Royal Greenland:

– We take note of the verdict. It is important for us that the fine has been reduced and that the case largely concerns matters where there has been ambiguity in the rules and practice. We experience that there is greater clarity today, and this is positive for the entire industry.

– At Royal Greenland, we have a continuous focus on training and development of our crew members with a view to strengthening the recruitment base locally over time, says Andrias Olsen.

Some of the crew members who did not meet the requirements had their population register address in Denmark or the Faroe Islands, or they were registered as “travelling”.

Others were registered or previously registered under designations such as “Population register 3, Sisimiut” or “Unknown Nuuk”. This is usually because the person has been without a permanent residence for a period of time. It was in connection with these persons that the High Court waived fines for violations.

For fishermen with unclear housing conditions, it has been possible since 1 August 2023 to make a sworn statement stating that they have actually lived in Greenland within the last two calendar years.

Sermitsiaq did not mention the Court of Greenland judgment in the case last year. The reason is that at the time we did not know that the trial and judgment existed. We do not have access to court lists from the Court of Greenland.