Table Of ContentPALGRAVE STUDIES IN MARITIME
ECONOMICS
Stig Tenold
Norwegian Shipping
in the 20th Century
Norway’s Successful
Navigation of the World’s
Most Global Industry
Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics
Series Editors
Hercules Haralambides
Erasmus School of Economics
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Elias Karakitsos
EN Aviation & Shipping Research Ltd
Athens, Greece
Stig Tenold
Department of Economics
NHH – Norwegian School of Economics
Bergen, Norway
Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics is a new, original and timely
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and global supply chain management, shipping finance, and maritime
business and economic history. The maritime industry plays an increas-
ingly important role in the changing world economy, and this new series
offers an outlet for reviewing trends and developments over time as well
as analysing how such changes are affecting trade, transport, the environ-
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core audience will be academic, as well as policymakers, regulators and
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More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15187
Stig Tenold
Norwegian Shipping
in the 20th Century
Norway’s Successful Navigation of the
World’s Most Global Industry
Stig Tenold
Department of Economics
NHH – Norwegian School of Economics
Bergen, Norway
Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics
ISBN 978-3-319-95638-1 ISBN 978-3-319-95639-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95639-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018952928
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For havets folk – A la gent del mar
For those who sailed, for those who worked long days in the office,
and for those who waited at home.
Acknowledgements
This book is the result of more than two decades of research on Norwegian
shipping. Along the way, I have benefitted greatly from the conferences
and publications of an international community, centred around the
International Maritime Economic History Association (now the
International Maritime History Association). The most important pilot
in these academic waters was Skip Fischer (1946–2018), and this book is
dedicated to his memory.
Over this period I have had interesting discussions with many people,
who have shaped my ideas on maritime history in general, and the
Norwegian dimension, in particular. I am grateful to Yrjö Kaukiainen
and Jari Ojala in Finland; Gelina Harlaftis and Ioannis Theotokas in
Greece; Lars Chr. Bruno, Espen Ekberg, Even Lange, Eivind Merok and
Lars Fredrik Øksendal in Norway; Jesús Maria Valdaliso in Spain; Martin
Bellamy, Peter N. Davies, Roy Fenton, Maria Fusaro, Hugh Murphy,
Sarah Palmer, David J. Starkey, David Williams and the late John
Armstrong in the UK. In Copenhagen I have collaborated closely with
CBS Maritime, in particular Martin Jes Iversen, René Taudal Poulsen
and Henrik Sornn-Friese, and in London I have had the pleasure of shar-
ing the vast shipping experience of Otto Norland and Martin Stopford.
At home in Bergen I have learnt much from discussions with Dag Bakka
jr., Bjørn Basberg, Geir Belsnes, Camilla Brautaset, Jan Tore Klovland,
Victor D. Norman, Bjørn Sjaastad, Siri Pettersen Strandenes, Arnljot
vii
viii Acknowledgements
Strømme Svendsen and Roar Ådland, as well as colleagues at the Bergen
Maritime Museum and NHH – Norwegian School of Economics.
The majority of this book was written when I was on Sabbatical at the
Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington in
Seattle. I know that this stay has made the book different, and I believe
that it has made it better. I am grateful for the warm welcome from
Christine Ingebritsen, Lars Jenner, Andy Nestingen, Tina Swenson,
Olivia Gunn and Terje Leiren; the last two have also been particularly
useful in discussions about the contents.
Although this is not a textbook, I “tested the waters” with students in
my Maritime History and Economics class, who commented upon the
first two chapters. Their reward was getting their names in an academic
book. Well done, Kristoffer Bringslid, Nils Petter Farstad, Thomas Rødahl
Fossland, Sindre Gripsgård, Benjamin Hui, Ruth Søyset Jensen, Nekane
Larrañaga Pesquera, Boudewijn Leereveld, Jørgen Fie Padøy Mathiesen,
Herman Hjort Rabsch, Steven Orpheus Sacopayo Schmidt, Samme
Snakkers and Ruben ten Berge. Bjørn Basberg and Sina Øilo Tenold have
also read parts of the manuscript, and provided useful comments.
Four people have read and commented in detail on the manuscript,
and deserve a special mention. Jan Tore Klovland, Hugh Murphy, Klaus
Remme and Marit Øilo have been very helpful, and have uncovered mis-
takes and inconsistencies that slipped through my net. Any remaining are
of course my own responsibility, but I am extremely grateful for their
help and enthusiasm.
Academic publishing is rapidly changing, and new possibilities are
opening. The costs of the Open Access-publication of this book have
been paid for by Norges Rederiforbunds Fond for NHH [The Norwegian
Shipowners’ Association’s Fund for NHH] and Norges Handelshøyskoles
Publiseringsfond [The NHH Publication Fund]. I am lucky to have their
help in disseminating my research. I would also like to thank Taiba
Batool, who commissioned this book project, as well as Publisher Rachel
Sangster and Editorial Assistant Joseph Johnson at Palgrave Macmillan
for their patience and support during the writing process.
Contents
1 A Brief Introduction to Norwegian Shipping 1
2 The Starting Point: A Small Country, but a Major
Maritime Nation 21
3 The First World War: The Neutral Ally 63
4 Crisis? What Crisis? Norwegian Shipping in the Interwar
Period 91
5 The Second World War 133
6 B igger and Bigger: Shipping During the Golden Age,
1950–73 159
7 The Shipping Crisis 195
ix
x Contents
8 Rebound: The Return of Norwegian Shipping 231
9 Onshore and Offshore: The New Maritime Norway 259
10 Epilogue: A Century of Norwegian Shipping 275
Index 311
