partner at Oslo-based law firm Wikborg Rein. refuge for ships in distress. Department for Emergency Response (DER). "Under the Norwegian Pollution Act of 1981, the DER has the authority to grant a stricken vessel's request for a place of refuge, to order it to shore or send it further out to sea, if it is lying within the Norwegian territorial sea," says Eilertsen. bulker, John R, grounded and broke in two off the north coast of Norway. with the owners. granted shelter," says Eilertsen. EU's Erica II directive. and Shanghai, Wikborg Rein is one of Norway's leading law firms.