2009 has been a challenging year for the maritime sector. Freight rates have fallen in most market segments – dramatically in some. We have seen numerous new building contracts being cancelled and very few new contracts have been signed. While the situation in many other business segments is slowly improving, the situation in the maritime sector is still difficult. Many analysts believe that the worst lie ahead for parts of the maritime industry.

In these circumstances, strong actions by policy makers seem particularly important. However, such actions must be directed towards promoting innovative and viable businesses and allow for restructuring of the global industry which is likely to follow. It is also extremely important that governments resist protectionist measures which could threaten free trade and damage the world economy.

The maritime industry is global by nature and extremely competitive. However, the Norwegian maritime industries have a competitive advantage in the market for advanced technical solutions and high quality products. This advantage is a result of the knowledge built up through generations as a seafaring nation, the need to adapt to our harsh climate and the constant need for new and innovative solutions.

The Norwegian shipping companies make up the core of a comprehensive maritime cluster, a cluster which stretches from shipbuilding to classification, manufacturing of ship equipment, shipbroking, ship finance and insurance as well as maritime offshore activities.

The maritime industry is a priority area for the Norwegian Government. In 2007 the government adopted a national strategy for environmentally friendly growth in the maritime industry. Our vision is that Norway will continue to be a world leading maritime nation and that the Norwegian maritime industries supply the most innovative and environmentally friendly solutions for the future. The Government is committed to this vision and we will continue our efforts to maintain and attract ships and maritime activities to the Norwegian flag and to Norway.

It is a priority for the Norwegian government to maintain a complete maritime cluster for the future. The various segments of the Norwegian maritime industry push each other to develop and make use of new, more efficient and environmentally friendly technology. I believe that a complete maritime cluster, with sound cooperation as well as competition, is able to develop and deliver better products and services both separately and as complete packages.

I believe that the environmental advantages of commercial shipping should be considered as opportunities to gain markets in a world facing the challenge of global warming. By developing smarter engines, using low-emission fuels and new ship designs, Norway hopes to commercialize ships for the future that are cheaper to operate thanks to lower fuel consumption and optimized designs.

It is very important that international shipping makes real contribution to the global effort to reducing Green House Gas emissions (GHG). Unfortunately the results of the UNFCCC Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 were disappointing for the maritime sector. No concrete goal for reductions of emissions from ships was determined. However, we are confident that the International Maritime Organization, IMO, will continue its important work with a view to agree on binding global regulation for shipping to contribute to GHG reductions.

Shipping is a global industry, and global problems ultimately need global solutions. Norway strongly supports the development of international environmental regulations through the IMO. It is vital that international regulations are introduced for all ships regardless of the country of registration.

Market conditions in most parts of the maritime sector are currently very challenging. However, the crisis also creates opportunities. I encourage research, new and innovative solutions and the ability to adapt to new and challenging situations. The coming years may be hard, but if we focus on competence, innovation and environmentally sound solutions we may be rewarded in the future.

I hope you will enjoy NMI 2009!

Designing – not building: Wärtsila Ship Design Norway is to design and supervise the construction of a modern oceanographic research vessel for the marine wing of the Geological Survey of India. (GSI)

The other side of the coin shows alarm signals for the years ahead, and in particular from 2011 onwards.
Using newbuilding deliveries from SKIPSREVYEN’s 2009 issues as a basis a total of 112 vessels were delivered from Norwegian yards, which is 21 less than in 2008. The main reason for the decline is fewer Coastal Fishing Vessels being built, – in fact 9 in 2009 versus 22 the preceding year. However it is quite possible that the actual number built in this category was higher, but that the yards have not published the actual deliveries for various reasons. Another explanation could be that more such vessels are being built abroad for Norwegian accounts.

Deliveries
The most important sector for the Norwegian shipbuilding industry is, as before, the Offshore Service Vessels. After 51 deliveries in 2008, 2009 followed up with 57 newbuildings altogether. This number comprises Anchor handlers, Platform Supply Vessels, specialized vessels for construction and subsea works, seismic ships and other vessels with special features. The 2009 figure is probably the highest ever in this sector; in 2007 43 such vessels were built, in 2006 38 units and in 2005 27 ships.

Other sectors
Four fishing vessels were delivered during 2009 compared to 7 in 2008. In addition 4 live fish carriers were built, which is three more than the previous year.
As already mentioned the category coastal fishing vessels featured with 9 new vessels, down from 22 in 2008.
The work boat sector (for fish farming) seems to be maintaining the pace of previous years, and SKIPSREVYEN has covered 22 deliveres in 2009, compared to 25 in 2008 and 29 in 2007.

Ferries
The yard industry is looking to this sector for new orders in the coming years. But so far the number of ferries being built is not that impressive with 3 in 2009, which is unchanged from the year before. In the sector “fast catamaran ferries” some 4 units were delivered in 2009 versus 6 in 2008.

Declining
Nobody within the shipbuilding industry seems interested in engaging in the cargo ship sector. In 2009 three chemical tankers were delivered and only one general cargo vessel. For a long time these types of vessels were considered not hi-tech enough for Norwegian shipbuilding. The same thinking had actually some Asian yards too, but when the freight markets, and in turn the shipbuilding prices, went sky-high those yards turned around quickly and booked highly profitable orders and were thereby able to take advantage of the markets.
If one looks at what types of ships have been ordered this year internationally, which basically means the last 4-5 months of the year (nothing happened before then), it is interesting to note that both bulk carriers and tankers feature strongly, and prices are not all bad.

Norwegian builders for Norwegian Owners
Last year we asked if the Norwegian shipbuilding industry could be isolated from the downturn, and we answered the question ourselves with “if today’s situation continues for another 6/9 months, an increasingly nervous atmosphere will appear in the shipbuilding industry, which in turn will have an effect on the prices for new ships”.
This turned out to be the reality. In the offshore sector, which proved not to be immune against the rest of the shipping markets, a negative trend set in. In 2007 about 670 units were ordered worldwide, in 2008 about 270 and in 2009 about 44 vessels. Some 25% of these were actually recorded in the last month of the year (could this be a sign of more activity to come), but regardless, this is of course a quite dramatic decline. So while Norwegian yards to some extent have been fortunate, or clever, their luck is about to run out.
Only one sector managed to do much better freightmarket-wise than feared at the beginning of the year, and that was the dry bulk sector. The Chineses stimulus package gave imminent help to this sector through import of enormous volumes of iron ore and coal, in addition to large quantities of soyabeans. This led to a revival in port congestion resulting in higher freight rates. It is therefore not surprising that orders for newbuildings have been placed for dry bulk ships, while other segments largely remained dormant.
A year ago we wrote that as much as 83 per cent of the newbuildings were delivered to Norwegian Owners. Interestingly enough the share of deliveries to foreign Owners stayed about the same, ie. 18 per cent, in 2009. Take away the six Mærsk vessels and the three Stolt-Nielsen tankers, that figure is however reduced to 10 per cent.
With Norway’s strong position both as builders and as ship-equipment suppliers for offshore vessels, a timely question is whether the yards could have done more to book newbuilding orders from abroad for these ship types, including in 2009.
But perhaps the nation’s position internationally is not as strong as we like to think. According to Clarkson Research Services’ Ship Type Orderbook there are 446 AHTS vessels on order, 225 PSV vessels and 210 in the category Other offshore ships. Of these 83, or 9.4 per cent, are to be built at Norwegian yards. Roughly one third of these will be built at STX Norway Offshore yards.

Designing – not building
The last quarter of 2009 brought news about contracting of ships based on Norwegian designs, but the vessels will not be built in Norway. While this is fine for the design companies, it surely does not help the yards and the general employment pattern.
One such order was for six newbuildings of Ulstein designs (P801, PX105 and PX106) to be built in Brazil for DSND Consub and CBO.
Another order covers two newbuildings to be built by STX Europe for the Siem Offshore subsidiary Siem Consub SA in Brazil. The ships are of PSV 09 CD design (a new STX Europe design) for delivery in 2012 and 2013 worth about NOK 900 million. The building yard is STX Brazil Offshore. In the press release a point is being made of the fact that the company’s divisions for design, trading and electrical systems is located in Ålesund.
Previously Deep Sea Supply had ordered a vessel of the same design from STX Europe to be built in Brazil for delivery first quarter 2012. The Shipowner used the opportunity to form a new company, Deep Sea Supply Navegação Marítima Ltda., with the ambition to run a fleet of 6/8 vessels.
Wärtsilä announced a major ship design contract for 12 Offshore Supply Vessels to be built in India at the Pipavav yard. The Shipowner here was ONGC – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., so it would perhaps have been a long shot to think that these ships could have been built in Norway. On the other hand, why not with the expertise within design and technology? (Wärtsilä acquired the Norwegian designer Vik-Sandvik in July 2008).
Wärtsilä Ship Design further announced the strengthening of its presence within the Brazilian maritime industry by incorporating Wärtsilä Ship Design into Wärtsilä’s Brazilian operations.
Should such examples be interpreted as a warning signal of a possible fragmentation of the tightly-knit Norwegian shipbuilding industry? No doubt shipbuilding in both Brazil and India has another advantage, the hull building. Norway gave up the hull building a long time ago, but both these countries have a large steel industry, and the yards will definitely be able to buy ship plates at very advantageous prices.

Between a rock and a hard place
If it is correct that the main equipment prices in Asia have fallen some 30/40 per cent from the peak newbuilding price levels in mid 2008, and that shipbuilding plate prices have halved in value from their peak, this gives a grave message to Norwegian shipbuilders and -suppliers about future competition.
At a time when the yards have to “sharpen their pencils” in order to be competitive, they also have to fight with labour unions regarding foreign workers’s wages. At the time of writing it is not known what will be the outcome of the case against the Tariff Board for general application of wage agreement. The case is presented by NHO and Norsk Industri on behalf of STX Europe, Kleven Verft, Myklebust Verft, Bergen Group Maritime Service, Bergen Group Shipsbuilding, Ulstein Verft and Havyard Group. One could in fact wonder if the Norwegian labour union suffers under the illusion that STX is still Norwegian owned?
In shipping the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has outlined minimum acceptable wages internationally, including flags of convenience. Perhaps it is a pity, that there is not a similar system for shipbuilding, for wage-wise the competition is definitely unfair from country to country. And it is surprising that the union in Norway is not eager to save the bulk of jobs instead of putting everybody’s jobs at stake. After all the wages’ purchasing power in the respective home countries should also be taken into account. Or is there a hidden agenda, and the real issue is a different one?
Regardless, in the long run shipyard workers in Norway cannot be shielded from international competition. The yards have given away the hull building, some are now selling ship design (and thereby the boasted high technology) for building world-wide, the equipment industry will move where the work takes them, foreign workers and their wages have assisted in making shipbuilding in Norway competitive, but that is supposedly to end.
So what competitive edge is left to the Norwegian shipbuilding industry? Is it possible to build up a unique expertise in the expanding service industry to offshore wind farms? By applying knowledge already at hand Norwegian designers and shipyards should be in a good position to come up with creative proposals for this “coming industry”.
Can any help be expected from the oil sector in 2010. In 2009 the price went from low $30’s in January to over $80 in the last quarter of the year. Is it realistic to hope for another hike in the price in 2010?  The International Energy Agency estimate an increase in demand of about 1.5 million barrels per day for 2010, but some of the biggest oil traders think that growth of one million b/d is more likely. These traders further believe that the price will stay in the $70/80 per barrel range for the first half of the year. In any case, there would have to be a significant price increase in order to stimulate orders for further offshore newbuildings in the short term.

Help, please
The Norwegian yard industry could definitely do with some government help the forthcoming years. Building of more ferries seems as the most realistic scheme, while a large-scale renewal of the short-sea fleet appears to be a tough nut to crack. Some of the yards are capable of building ships other than for the offshore industry. At the time of writing an order is reported for 4 Ro-Ro newbuildings ordered by an Italian Owners at a Korean yard at very good (high) price. Did anybody in Norway make an attempt?
We maintain our previous view that while Norwegian yards have been clever on the technical/design side, some of them have not been equally capable commercially. We were then primarily referring to the “giving away“ of cheap options, leaving all the profit to the Shipowners’ pockets as the newbuilding prices were rising during the 2006-08 boom. It seems as if there has been a lack of knowledge about the international shipping markets, their trends and behaviour.
During this boom-period the yards were presented with an excellent opportunity to build a buffer against leaner times. How many have succeeded in doing so?

zachs@skipsrevyen.no

The bleak prospects for the future of Norwegian shipbuilding industry, with almost empty order books after 2012, have raised the question of how the industry can pursue new opportunities and identify possible new markets. Or would it be more relevant to strengthen the belief in the reviving of old markets, like coastal fishing vessels, ferries, short sea vessels and offshore vessels.

Eigthy-eight huge wind turbins are to be installed on Sheringham Shoal, UK / Photo:Statoil

More than 80 per cent of the output from Norwegian yards the last couple of years has been for the offshore oil and gas market, indeed an indication of the industry’s ability to specialize and be competitive in one specific segment. The future of this particular market is of course dependent on the future oil price and subsequent the major oil operators willingness to make further investments in exploration, development and production. Regardless of this, existing offshore infrastructure and operations will prevail for many years. Consequently there will be need for regular renewal of the complete offshore fleet for many years.
The ferry market is another, though limited source of employment for at least a few yards. Norway is the kingdom of ferries, with more than 2000 permanently inhabited islands and countless coast side mainland settlements lacking roads. In 2008 there were 127 ferry connections in Norway, trafficked by about 150 ferries making 1.6 million sailings. The majority of these 150 ferries are old with an imminent need for replacement. Norwegian yards having specialized in the building of ferries could be in a good position to catch the bulk of the contracts that shortly will emerge, although the competition from foreign yards is tough.
Coastal fishing vessels is another segment that will have to pick up in the coming years, if the fishing fleet is to maintain it’s standard. But again this is a very limited sector and a limited number of yards.

SignifiCat – a special designed service vessel for offshore wind turbines. Designer Ola Lilloe-Olsen, building yard: Målæy Verft AS.

So what with the new offshore industry – wind farms? Can this industry come to the rescue of the ailing Norwegian yards?
The offshore wind energy sector is a brand new industry with a tremendous growth. In Europe it has virtually exploded the last couple of years. Only in 2009 the growth was 54 per cent. Europe has now 828 operating wind turbines offshore in total.
Figures from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal that the sector is growing rapidly, with 577 megawatts (MW) of development in 2009, up from 373MW the previous 12 months.
In 2009, eight new offshore wind farms were constructed, while ten schemes are expected to reach completion in 2010, adding 1,000MW to the network, a 75 per cent increase on 2009.
Building work has begun on a total of 17 new offshore wind farms in Europe, which will generate an estimated 3,500MW of energy when completed, with half of the developments based in UK waters. The EWEA recently welcomed an announcement by the British government that it has approved the development of nine offshore wind projects with an overall capacity of more than 32 gigawatts, calling it a “significant step forward” for the industry. The largest one – on Dogger Bank – was awarded to Statoil and Statkraft (and two additional companies).
Outside Europe the development is slower. However, it is anticipated that it will pick up when the technology is fully proven and cost has come down. In U.S. it seems that onshore wind farms are likely to be preferred, because the U.S. has very large onshore areas that are suitable for wind development, and not so much suitable offshore area. Onshore wind farms can provide significant economic development in the form of tax revenue to hard-pressed rural communities and rent payments to farmers. Onshore wind farms can therefore make a significant contribution to reducing and reversing the decline of rural communities that has been seen in the Plains States over the last several decades.
One of the largest offshore areas in the U.S. with shallow water is off Cape Cod, where a major wind farm has been proposed. Much of the rest of the U.S. coastline has at least some potential for wind development, but typically, turbine foundation costs increase rapidly with increasing water depth and wave height. The cost of connecting with utility power lines also increases rapidly as the distance from shore increases.
In general, regardless of geography, there are advantages to siting wind farms further offshore. Wind speeds tend to be higher and the wind is steadier. This means that turbines built further offshore should capture more wind energy. Many hope that the technical challenges will be overcome and that in the future offshore wind farms will be built much further offshore, perhaps even on floating platforms at sea.
Developers intentionally site wind turbines outside of established shipping lanes, thereby avoiding conflicts with routine traffic. Should a ship inadvertently go off course, its radar will readily detect the wind turbines, which are excellent radar reflectors. Wind turbines are also equipped with warning devices to alert ships in foul weather.
So what about the environmental challenges. Could they stop a further development of offshore wind farms, as many environmentalists and fishermen seems to hope? Given the relatively small area of seabed that is required there is no evidence to suggest that total fish catch will decline as a result of wind farm developments; if anything the opposite is true. Fish stocks have been in decline for many years due to overfishing. Many environmental groups believe that wind farms will provide welcome sanctuary for fish spawning as well as refuge from intensive fisheries activity.
The wind industry is working actively with the fishing industry to ensure, as the oil and gas industry has done before it, that the fishing industry is not disadvantaged by the growth of offshore wind farms.
There are three significant stages of a wind farm from the point of view of marine life: construction, operation and decommissioning. Construction and decommissioning have the potential to generate the most amount of disturbance, and the wind industry, as well as several marine conservation groups, is currently investigating these impacts on marine life.
However, it is important that such impacts be considered in the context of other marine activities such as fishing, shipping, oil and gas extraction, etc. Also, it should be noted that the duration of the construction and decommissioning will be about six months only. For the 20-year operational period there are no known impacts on marine life.
It has been suggested that the noise from wind turbines will travel underwater and could disturb sea life. But studies carried out on the impact of noise from existing offshore turbines note that the noise is very low frequency, and many species are actually unable to hear it.
As with any other local impact issues, these concerns will be addressed while a wind farm project is going through the permitting process.
In conclusion – the offshore wind industry has most probably come to stay for many years. And this industry will need service and support, both in the construction, ordinary operations and decommissioning phases. The industry will need purpose built ships for the installation of wind mills, for bringing people back and forth for maintenance purposes, and eventually for taking them down when they have served their time.
Today it is impossible to predict anything that make sense about the scope of this market. But the first shipowning company for this particular purpose has already been established – in 2000 in Denmark.  The company A2Sea of Fredericia has a market share of 60 per cent and has recently been sold to state owned Dong Energy. And the first Norwegian purpose built boat has already been ordered at a yard – Måløy Verft – by Offshore Windservice ApS, a Danish company owned by FOB Shipping of Bergen. The vessel – a semi-submersible catamaran of 26 meter – is designed to ensure a smooth transfer of people from boat to windmill and the other way around, even in 2,5 meters significant wave-height. The vessel will be named «FOB Swath» and able to carry 24 service personnel.
This is just the beginning. A new market is definitely emerging. The decisive question is to what extent the Norwegian shipbuilding industry is able to grasp the possibilities, be innovative and develop new concepts. And bring them to the markets.

Many of the ideas for the newbuilding are based on the experience gained through the operation of FAR SOVEREIGN which has performed trenching works since 1999. This vessel made single vessel operation possible which meant a big step forward in efficiency.

FAR SAMSON is purpose built for seabed pipeline trenching, pulling a remote controlled plough on the seabed laying the pipeline in an up to 2.5m deep ditch in one operation. Afterwards the ditch is backfilled by a different plough. The vessel is furthermore fully equipped for Subsea Contruction and IMR duties.

During the bollard pull test, an official world record was established as 423 metric tonnes continuous bollard pull was achieved and verified by DNV.

The vessel has a hybrid propulsion system and is very fuel efficient, and the generator engines are equipped with catalytic converters which result in 95% NOx reduction. The class notation Clean Design is implemented, as well as NAUT OSV A and Comfort class.

The prestigeous SHIP OF THE YEAR-award is instituted by the major Norwegian shipping magazine SKIPSREVYEN. Price candidates are nominated by the readers of the magazine, but the final election is the responsibility of a jury consisting of the Publisher and Editor of SKIPSREVYEN, Mr. Asle B. Strønen, the former MD of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association Mr. Rolf Sæther and the MD of the sales and marketing organization Norwegian Shipyards, Mr. Birger Skår.

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2008 – “ISLAND WELLSERVER”

More information about this ship available on ShipoftheYear.com

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2007 – M/S «NORMAND SEVEN»
NORMAND SEVEN is a large state-of-the art vessel, capable to undertake all aspects of offshore construction and installation works. The vessel is designed by Vik-Sandvik in close co-operation with the Owners and is of VS 4220 OCV design. This is the second time a vessel built by Ulstein Verft wins the prize. Last year´s winner, BOURBON ORCA, was also built by Ulstein. NORMAND SEVEN is however a bigger ship, in fact the largest ever built by Ulstein and she is an example of an complex projects that has contributed to raise the level of the yard´s shipbuilding expertise.

More information about this ship available on ShipoftheYear.com

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2006 – M/V «BOURBON ORCA»
M/V “Bourbon Orca”, an Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel of ULSTEIN AX104 design with ULSTEIN X-BOW, was elected SKIPSREVYENs SHIP OF THE YEAR 2006.

The ceremony took place at the SMM 2006 Exhibition in Hamburg in September.

More information about this ship available on ShipoftheYear.com

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2005

No ship delivered during 2005 qualified as Ship of the Year.

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2004 – M/V «VIKING AVANT»
Aker Langsten AS, Tomrefjord (Aker Yards) delivered in 2004 a Platform Supply Vessel of a complete new design by Norwegian company Vik-Sandvik, VS 493 Avant, to her Owners Eidesvik Shipping AS, Bømlo as the yard’s Hull No. 197. M/V «VIKING AVANT» is built with bridge and engine aft, contrary to all previously built PSVs. Due to her innovations this ship was elected SHIP OF THE YEAR 2004 by the Nordic shipping magazine SKIPSREVYEN. Mr. Andreas Gaarder, Norway’s chargé d’affaires to Germany, performed the handing over of SKIPSREVYEN’s awards for 2004 to the ship’s captain, owner, building yard and designer at the SMM exhibition in Hamburg.

More information about this ship available on ShipoftheYear.com

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2003 – “G.O. SARS”
The “G.O. SARS” was awarded SKIPSREVYEN’S “SHIP OF THE YEAR” for 2003. Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Ansgar Gabrielsen, announced the price as he opened the Nor-Shipping 2003 Exhibition on 3rd June. The Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and the University of Bergen UiB) joined forces when ordering the new fishery research vessel “G.O. SARS”, which is possibly the most advanced research vessel in the world. The vessel was christened by Her Majesty Queen Sonja on the 7th of May 2003 in Bergen, but was handed over from Flekkefjord Slipp & Maskinfabrikk AS to the Owners already on the 25th of April 2003.

More information about this ship available on ShipoftheYear.com

SHIP OF THE YEAR 2002 – KV “Svalbard”
The new pride of the Norwegian Navy KV “Svalbard” built by Aker Langsten AS, was delivered from the yard in January 2002. Described as the world’s most sophisticated Coast Guard Vessel KV “Svalbard” received SKIPSREVYENs SHIP OF THE YEAR award at SMM 2002.

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SHIP OF THE YEAR 2001 – «The World»
HM King Harald is congratulating captain Ola S. Harsheim of «The World» with SKIPSREVYEN’S «SHIP OF THE YEAR 2001» award at Nor-Shipping in Oslo. Building yard was Fosen Mek. Verksteder AS, and with «The World» as «SHIP OF THE YEAR» Norway entered the Super League of shipbuilding – The Cruise Ship Building Nations.

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SHIP OF THE YAER 2000 – M/F «Glutra»
In 2000 the world’s first LNG fuelled ferry – M/F «Glutra» – was elected SHIP OF THE YEAR, built by Aker Langsten AS for Norwegian owner Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtas AS. The handing over of SKIPSREVYEN’S awards was performed at SMM in Hamburg by Ms. Grete Knudsen, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry (right).

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SHIP OF THE YEAR 1999 – «Geco Eagle»
In 1999 the extremely advanced seismic research ship «Geco Eagle», owned by Geco-Prakla and delivered from Bergen-based Mjellem & Karlsen Verft AS, was presented with the «SHIP OF THE YEAR» award. Once again the event took place as part of the official opening ceremony at Nor-Shipping in Oslo.

SHIP OF THE YEAR 1998 – M/S «Pasiphae»
In 1998 the handing over of SKIPSREVYEN’S «SHIP OF THE YEAR» awards took place at the international shipping exhibition SMM in Hamburg. Winner of the award was the luxurious M/S «Pasiphae», hull no. 67 from Fosen Mek. Verksteder owner by Minoan Lines S.A. in Greece.

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SHIP OF THE YEAR 1997 – M/T «Bow Faith»
SKIPSREVYEN’S «SHIP OF THE YEAR» 1997 was awarded the chemical tanker M/T «Bow Faith», Hull no. 134 from Kværner Florø AS and owned byStorli/Odfjell ASA. The handling over was performed by Ms. Grete Knudsen, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry (left), at Nor-Shipping 1997.