Riding the offshore wave

摘要

There are few countries in the world that could boast a range of maritime manufacturers and service organisations equal to that of Norway. From design and model testing, through construction, fitting out and classification it is possible to build a ship from scratch using nothing but local equipment and services. Sadly, the number of owners prepared to do that is diminishing and as a result Norway's shipbuilding sector has shrunk dramatically and its survival is in some cases thanks to foreign influence. Many of the country's yards are now Asian-owned and one of the leading designers, Vik Sandvik, was taken over by Waertsilae at the end of last year. There are still, however, a reasonable number of locally owned firms producing designs and vessels perfectly suited to the specialist roles in which Norway excels.