Notification and insurance procedures are imposed in accordance with "Regulations relating to tourism and other activities in Svalbard". To begin with, you are required to notify the Governor of Svalbard about your projected trip. Get in touch well in advance, so that we can send you some information and the notification form you will need to fill in and return. When filling in the form, please state the names of other members of your party, as well as the type of gear you are taking with you and a description of your route. People travelling together in a group only submit one form.

The search and rescue (SAR) insurance

When the Governor has received your notification, you will be informed of the size of the insurance or bank guarantee required for you to be allowed to go through with your plans. Normally, the sum insured will range between NOK 50 000 and NOK 200 000. You can either take out an insurance or provide a private bank guarantee for the amount. The insurance or bank guarantee is needed to cover the cost of potential search and/or rescue operations (SAR) or transport of patients, regardless of whether or not the costs are incurred due to negligence or recklessness.  

Your usual travel insurance will normally not cover SAR expenses for trips of this kind. Most people will have to take out a separate insurance. If you intend to provide a private bank guarantee for the amount, the money needs to be deposited on a frozen account which will only be accessible to the Governor of Svalbard in the event of a rescue operation.

Once you have obtained the search and rescue insurance (or bank guarantee), the Governor will require written evidence to the effect: for instance a copy of the insurance contract or the original bank guarantee, in Norwegian or English.

Registration card

When the Governor has acknowledged your insurance (or bank guarantee), a registration card will be issued to you. If you come to Svalbard by air, you can drop by the Governor's offices (open Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 AM-3:30 PM) to collect your registration card. Do not forget to bring documentation of your SAR insurance (or bank guarantee), unless you have sent it in advance. If you are travelling by ship, the Governor will be able to send you the registration card, provided you have been in touch with us well in advance, sent the notification form and documentation of insurance (or bank guarantee).

Inspections

You will need to take the registration card with you on your trip so that you can produce it if you meet the Governor's inspectors. The card confirms that you have correctly carried out the notification and insurance procedures.

Handing in the registration card

When you have ended your trip and are back in Longyearbyen (or have left Svalbard's waters, if you are travelling by sea) the registration card should be returned to the Governor, as quickly as possible. Please remember to fill in the information requested. Even if the Governor has not received your registration card by the time you were scheduled to have ended your trip, no search operation will be triggered. That is why you should have a binding agreement with somebody you trust so that you are reported missing if you fail to turn up within a set time.