Shipping & Offshore Network Annual Report 2023

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

REPORT FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Shipping & Offshore Network was established in 1981 as Bulkforum and changed its name in 2013.

In 2018 we launched the Maritime Oslofjord Alliance, an alliance with Oslo Shipowners’ Association and Ocean Industry Forum Oslofjord. The Alliance has its own website www.maritimeoslofjord.no With our association being the international one of the three, we are also looking to attract more members from abroad, particularly from the Nordic countries. Our members are from a variety of countries Altogether the Alliance comprises some 150+ companies. Through a membership in Shipping & Offshore Network with its 50+ company members, foreign companies gain access to an entire cluster of maritime and ocean based companies in Norway and abroad

In 2023 we were back on pre-pandemic levels with regard to activity and turnover, a very good turnout for our Annual Summit as well as for our Shipping Academy activities, and we are again partner in an EU/Interreg project. So all in all it was a very good year for us.

The AGM was held on 14 February, Valentine’s Day, with a seminar titled “War in Europe – what will follow?” with Janne Haaland Matlary and Sverre Diesen. It was excellent. Our Annual Summit was held at Losby Gods on 13–14 April, titled “Responding to a chaotic reality – Strategies for survival. Seeking stability” with as many as 62 participants in total. Our two Market Update meetings were held in Bergen and Oslo on 2 and 3 October, respectively. The same month we co-organised the 3rd Klaipėda Manifesto conference in Klaipėda, Lithuania together with the Norwegian embassy and more.

Our Shipping Academy conducted our classic 1-day course in Basic Shipping and Maritime Law, on 9 November. In June we launched a new course called “Ship Finance in One Day” which was hugely successful, and in December we ran an in-house 2-day course in Ship Management for Kongsberg Maritime and Kongsberg Digital, in Horten. This will be launched as an open 1-day course in 2024. On top of that we had a traditional course on China with Dr Josef Mondl from University of St. Gallen.

The Board is pleased to sum up an active year. Our turnover was NOK 1,803,782 with a profit of NOK 28,004 The Shipping Academy itself had a turnover of as much as NOK 303,556 in 2023

Oslo, 27 February, 2024

Our Board, clockwise: Arnstein Eknes, Helene Westfal-Larsen, Margrethe Bøe Landro, Dr Per Olaf Brett (chair), André Borge, Jan Peder Myklebost, Tom O. Kleppestø (general manager), and Kjartan Bru

The members meetings in more detail

FEBRUARY: Our Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday 14 February, the Valentine’s Day. Present were altogether 46 attendees: 24 delegates representing 20 members, in addition to guests and the General Manager, Tom O. Kleppestø, who was elected to sign the protocol Among guests were representatives for YoungShip and WISTA, seen below with our board member Arnstein Eknes, DNV

Dr Per Olaf Brett stepped down, Mr Jan Peder Myklebost was elected as new chair and Ms Margrethe Bøe Landro vice chair. Due to Mr Myklebost’s EMBA at CBS (the Blue Master) taking most of his free time until August, it was decided that Dr Brett would continue until then before the new chair would take over. However, later Mr Myklebost took on a new job and moved to Dubai with his family in June, so Dr Brett remained chair after all. But this is how the election went at the AGM, the other board members were reelected:

¡ Per Olaf Brett (chairman until August), Ulstein International AS

¡ Jan Peder Myklebost (new chair from August), Hydro Aluminium AS

¡ Margrethe Bøe Landro (vice chair), G2 Ocean AS

¡ Helene Westfal-Larsen

Westfal-Larsen Shipping AS

¡ Arnstein Eknes

DNV AS

¡ Kjartan Bru

BNP Paribas SA Norway Branch

¡ André Borge

Wagle Chartering AS

NEW HONORARY MEMBER:

The AGM approved the Board’s proposal to appoint Mr Rune Birkeland, Grieg Maritime Group, as our third honorary member for his tireless effort for the association through two decades both as board member, chair, and leader of the Election Committee for the last decade.

After the AGM followed the seminar on “War in Europe – what will follow?” with Sverre Diesen, MSc, Researcher, General (R), Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Former Chief of Defence of Norway and Janne Haaland Matlary, Professor dr.philos, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Adjunct Professor, The Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College, Akershus Fortress, Research Associate, Oxford Changing Character of War Centre

General Diesen’s presentation was called "The post-Ukraine world order” and Dr Matlary’s title was “Confrontation and Conflict: The new Normal in International Politics and Trade”. It was an extremely interesting seminar.

After the AGM and seminar followed drinks in the Hall and chairman Dr Per Olaf Brett, who thought this was his last AGM as board member/chair, gave an inspiring farewell speech. As it turns out, he will be able to make one more later.

APRIL: Our Annual Summit was held on 13–14 April at Losby Gods. The topic was “Responding to a Chaotic Reality: Strategies for survival – seeking stability”. We had some 60+ participants altogether.

Our question was: In our times of great and unknown change, with war in Europe, new regulations and requirements emerging from governments and international bodies, as well as capital and insurance partners, how do you strategically position your business to survive? How can you seek stability in chaos?

Our opening keynote speaker was Dr Josef Mondl, Director of the China Competence Center, University of St. Gallen, who was here the first time in 2019, with the stunning lecture “China's Vision 2049: A China Dream Come True or A Global Nightmare In The Making”. Dr Ulf Sverdrup, Director, NUPI (Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs), followed with “Europe, Middle East and USA – what now?”

Other speakers and panelists:

§ Elisabeth Holvik, SpareBank1

§ Kjartan Bru, BNP Paribas, Oslo

§ Dr Martin Stopford, former MD of Clarkson Research, Maritime Economics

§ Stig Remøy, shipowner, Olympic Subsea

§ Kjersti Tusvik, EFTA, Brussels

§ Frank Solberg, Country Manager, Director Shipping Global, Sibelco

§ Jens Ismar, Executive Director Shipping, Exmar

§ Dr Tore Ulstein, Chairman, Ulstein Group

§ Dr Christos Chryssakis, Business Development Manager, Maritime, DNV

§ Dr Jonas Kristiansen Nøland, ass. prof., Dept. of Electric Energy, NTNU

§ Jakub Walenkiewicz, Market Analyst, DNV

§ Dr Jan Emblemsvåg, professor, NTNU

Among the topics was nuclear on ships

OCTOBER: Our annual Market Update Meetings were again held both in Bergen and Oslo, on 2 and 3 October, respectively.

Macro Focus: Professor Øystein Thøgersen from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) gave a presentation on the current global macroeconomic picture, this year titled “Are Central Banks the heroes or the bandits? Global prospects in a time of persistent inflationary pressure.”

Shipping Focus: He was followed by Tom Cochrane, Research Analyst, Dry Cargo Research, Howe Robinson Partners, London, with "How will shipping markets react to upcoming changes in the regulatory environment?"

Sustainability Focus: The last speaker was Knut Ola Skotvedt, SVP Ocean Industries, DNB Bank, who gave an “Update on ETS etc. from a bank’s perspective”. This was the third time he presented sustainability updates for us.

PHOTOS: Top is our board member Margrethe Bøe Landro, G2 Ocean, at our meeting in Bergen on 2 October. Right shows four happy ladies from our Oslo meeting on 3 October: Tone Seth, Simonsen Vogt Wiig; Claire K. Eide, BNP Paribas; Olga Brattekaas, Thor Dahl Management; and Synnøve Marie Kvam, The Explorers’ Club. Below is professor Øystein Thøgersen (NHH) at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, as always.

KLAIPĖDA MANIFESTO: The third “Klaipėda Manifesto: Blue Economy Conference” was again a 2-day conference in Klaipėda, Lithuania, held on 10 and 11 October.

It was organized by Klaipėda ID, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Vilnius, the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, in collaboration with Shipping & Offshore Network, Klaipėda University, Association of Klaipėda Region, Klaipėda Science & Technology Park, the Norwegian-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, the Lithuanian Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, and the Lithuanian Maritime Cluster

The event was supported by Ignitis Renewables, Klaipėda Free Economic Zone, KN, Lithuanian Maritime Cluster, and Norway Grants.

Among the topics this year were energy, collaboration, tourism, innovations, talents, port and startups. Norwegian speakers were our ambassador, H.E. Ole T. Horpestad (photo), Vidar Ulriksen, State Secretary at Ministry for Industry and Fisheries (online), Astrid Valderhaug, Rystad Energy, Agnes Árnadóttir, CEO and Co-Founder of Brim Explorer (online), Per Martin Tanggaard, Director for External Relations, NorShipping; and Birgit M. Liodden, Founder & CEO, The Ocean Opportunity Lab (photo). DNV and Höegh LNG were also represented with local executives.

Once again Tom O. Kleppestø was co-moderator in addition to giving a presentation about the Norwegian maritime strategy.

The reason we are co-organising this conference is to build a bridge between the Norwegian and Lithuanian maritime industries, which also includes our role in the Blue Supply Chains EU/Interreg project and, for Ocean Industry Forum Oslofjord (OIFO), the Portathon 2023.

This was a port related hackathon the weekend prior to the Klaipėda Manifesto, where a Norwegian student team hosted by Port of Oslo, working on a challenge submitted by the port. Although the hackthon was located in Klaipėda, at the Science Park and the University, there were satellites in several other countries, including Norway. The Norwegian team ended up as one of four teams that won a prize of EUR 1,000 for which they were both happy and proud. So were we.

Other things we did in 2023

MAY - THE LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT: Our general manager was invited to speak at the Seimas, the Lithuanian Parliament, on 19 May. It was a seminar in the process of creating a maritime strategy for Lithuania, which doesn’t have one and until now hasn’t seen itself as a maritime nation. There are several reasons for that, also historic ones, but the fact that the capital Vilnius is inland, not by the sea which is the case for neighbours Latvia (Riga) and Estonia (Tallinn) also plays a role.

The seminar was called “The Sea – for Lithuania’s Security and Progress. Maritime Business and Policy Forum, Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania”. Our ambassador H.E. Ole T. Horpestad was also there to offer a greeting from Norway (photo below). The presentation made by our general manager was called “Norwegian maritime strategy – Blue Growth for a Green Future”. Another ambassador there was the Dutch. Among speakers were ministers, vice-ministers and members of parliament. Prof. Dr. Valdas Rakutis, Member of the Seimas, is the Chairman of the Maritime Affairs Commission of the Seimas, established to define a maritime strategy for Lithuania.

JUNE – Nor-Shipping: On 5-9 June

Nor-Shipping took place and we met with friends from near and afar, amongst those from reather near were Niklas Bengtsson and Christopher Pålsson from Maritime Insight in Gothenburg. They are the organisers of Executive Meeting in January every year, a good parallel to our own Annual Summit.

In the photo from the DNV BBQ we also see Martin Crawford-Brunt, formerly DNV, now CEO of Lookout Maritime in London, and Jakub Walenkiewicz, Principal Market Analyst and Business Development Manager at DNV.

JUNE – IMO, LONDON: On 12 and 13 June the 10th City of London Biennial Meeting was held at the IMO, organised by The Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). This famous meeting series by the world known professor, who has taught so many in the shipping world for decades, first took place in 1999.

Our general manager was there to meet with professor Grammenos himself, Dr Martin Stopford, professor Siri Strandenes (NHH) and Nicolai Hansteen (below), DNV, an alumn, and to meet other experts in global shipping.

The topic this year was “A Changing World – Adapt to Succeed”. With the IMO, which is the venue for the meeting, full of former students and others, it was an interesting place to be for two days with regard to networking and contacts, maintaining existing (like Martin) and getting some new ones.

BLUE SUPPLY CHAINS: In 2016-2019 we were one of 19 partners, and the only Norwegian one, in the Go LNG project (EU/Interreg). The Lead Partner then was Klaipėda Science and Technology park. As a consequence of that, in 2022 we were invited to be the only Norwegian partner in another such project, Blue Supply Chains for the Baltic Region, where the Lead Partner is Port of Hamburg Marketing in Germany.

The Blue Supply Chains project supports port authorities and port operators to decarbonise port operations by advancing electrification, providing alternative fuels strategies and setting up green transport chains.

The project is all about decarbonization in ports:

1. Evaluation and piloting of measures for the further electrification of handling equipment,

2. Strategies for providing, handling and storing alternative fuel,

3. Promotion of more environmentally friendly transport chains in the hinterland, with a focus on the development of combined transport.

The target groups for the project are business support organisation, infrastructure and public service providers, and national public authorities. There are 21 partners in the project, with a total budget of EUR 4.6m, of which EUR 0.05m is the Norwegian contribution. In September all partners met for 2 days in Gothenborg, organised by project partners IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Lindholmen Science Park AB.

Two months later another event took place at Lindholmen, 1st Mission Arena by Blue Mission BANOS, where the Blue Supply Chains project had some workshops.

This book was published by Dr Mikael Lind, Professor in Maritime Informatics at Chalmers University of Technology and Senior Strategic Research Advisor at Research Institutes of Sweden (right). (RISE).,

The Shipping Academy is expanding

For many years we have been running the 1-day course in Basic Shipping and Maritime Law, which is very popular. At the AGM on 14 February the Board presented a plan for The Shipping Academy, which included special courses in four topics:

Overall goal of the Shipping Academy: Understanding the Shipping and Marine Ecosystem

Target Groups (alphabetically):

¡ Charterers

¡ Class

¡ Equipment manufacturers

¡ Finance

¡ Flag state

¡ Insurance

¡ Legal

¡ Regulators and lawmakers

¡ Shipowners, operators/crew, brokers

¡ Shipyards, design and projects

SYLLABUS (COURSE PLAN)

General:

¡ Basic Shipping and Maritime Law

Specialized:

¡ Ship Finance in One Day

¡ Ship Management

¡ Marine Insurance

¡ Ship Technology

¡ Geopolitics

¡ Dr. Josef Mondl: Tan Xia (China)

So last year, on 19 June, we also introduced another 1-day course called “Ship Finance in One Day”. This attracted 18 participants from as diverse companies as our members ABN AMRO Bank N.V., DNB Bank, Export Finance Norway (Eksfin), and Wagle Chartering in addition to other Alliance members Arne Blystad, Color Line Marine, Höegh LNG, Klaveness Combination Carriers, SEB, Torvald Klaveness, and Wilhelmsen Insurance Services. The participants were very satisfied and asked us for more courses.

Then, on 9 November, we once again ran our Basic Shipping and Maritime Law, this time with 16 participants from our members BNP Paribas, Bureau Veritas, DNV - Offshore Classification, Gard, in addition to Alliance members Blystad Group, BW LNG, Front Ocean Management, Hav Chartering, Höegh Autoliners Chartering and Nor-Shipping (Nova Spektrum). We also had a guest speaker, a well known person in the industry, Mr Trond Eilertsen, who for many years was in Wikborg Rein and still is the Chair for our member Gard. Second photo.

On 13 December we also did an internal 2-days course for Kongsberg Maritime and Kongsberg Digital in Horten, Ship Management, which we will launch as an open 1-day course in 2024. Photos right and below.

These courses were all orchestrated by our Course Director Tor Erik Jensen, who is assistant professor in Maritime Law at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) and lecturer at BI Norwegian Business School (BI).

On top of that our now good friend Dr. Josef Mondl was in Norway for our Annual Summit, when he also did an internal course for DNV, and again on 2 November for a select group of participants eager to learn more about China. Top photo from 2 November in our house.

Academy turnover was NOK 303,556 in 2023.

MEMBERS

In 2023 we didn’t recruit any new members, but lost three for various reasons.

As of 1 January 2024, this is the membership portfolio of Shipping & Offshore Network:

FINANCIALS

The P&L for 2023 (2022) shows a total turnover of NOK 1,803,782 (1,344,067) and a profit of NOK 28,004 (–41,735).

MEMBERSHIP FEE

The annual fee for 2023 was NOK 20,000, unchanged since 2011.

THE BOARD 2023

Per Olaf Brett, Ulstein International AS, Chairman

Margrethe Bøe Landro, G2 Ocean AS, Deputy Chair

Arnstein Eknes, DNV AS

André Borge, Wagle Chartering AS

Jan Peder Myklebost, Hydro Aluminium AS (left in June)

Kjartan Bru, BNP Paribas SA Norway Branch

Helene Westfal-Larsen, Westfal-Larsen Shipping AS

Oslo, 27 February, 2024

Enclosed: P&L 2023, events overview, and our meeting programmes

OUR EVENTS IN 2023

SHIPPING & OFFSHORE NETWORK EVENTS & CO-ORGANISED EVENTS

14 February

13–14 April

10–11 October

2 October

3 October

Annual General Meeting (AGM) Norges Rederiforbund

Annual Summit 2023 Losby Gods

Klaipėda Manifesto Hybrid event in Klaipėda, Lithuania

Market Update Meeting – Bergen Grand Bergen

Market Update Meeting – Oslo Norges Rederiforbund

MARITIME OSLOFJORD ALLIANCE EVENTS

6-8 October

10 October

Portathon 2023 @ Port of Oslo Klaipėda Science and Technology Park

Breakfast meeting by Oslo Rederiforening Norges Rederiforbund

THE SHIPPING ACADEMY. BY SHIPPING & OFFSHORE NETWORK

19 June

Ship Finance in One Day Norges Rederiforbund

2 November Tian Xia – Beyond the China Dream Norges Rederiforbund

9 November

12–13 December

Basic Shipping & Maritime Law Norges Rederiforbund

Ship Management (internal course) Kongsberg Maritime, Horten

There have been 5 board meetings in 2023

17 00–18 00

INVITATION TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2023

AND SEMINAR FOLLOWED BY THE ANNUAL DINNER

TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY, 2023 AT 17 00

Norges Rederiforbund, Oslo – Free for our members –

AGENDA

General Assembly

18 00–19 30 WAR IN EUROPE – WHAT WILL FOLLOW?

The post-Ukraine world order

Sverre Diesen, MSc, Researcher, General (R) Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) Former Chief of Defence of Norway

Confrontation and Conflict: The new Normal in international politics and Trade

Janne Haaland Matlary, Professor dr.philos Department of Political Science, University of Oslo

Adjunct Professor, The Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College, Akershus Fortress

Research Associate, Oxford Changing Character of War Centre Associate, LSE Ideas PANEL DEBATE + Q&A

19 30 Drinks in the Hall

20.00 Annual Dinner

GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS (to be distributed later)

Agenda for the General Assembly

General Assembly Documents to be distributed in the meeting:

1. The Board’s Annual Report 2022

2. Annual Accounts 2022 (see Annual Report)

3. Budget for 2023

4. The Election Committee’s nominations and the Board’s nomination for Election Committee

5. Statutes for Shipping & Offshore Network (in Norwegian)

ANNUAL SUMMIT 2023

at Losby Gods, Thursday 13 and Friday 14 April

RESPONDING TO A CHAOTIC REALITY

Strategies for survival – seeking stability.

In our times of great and unknown change, with war in Europe, new regulations and requirements emerging from governments and international bodies, as well as capital and insurance partners; how do you strategically position your business to survive? How can you seek stability in chaos?

Josef Mondl, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland • Ulf Sverdrup, NUPI, Oslo

Elisabeth Holvik, SpareBank1 • Kjartan Bru, BNP Paribas (Oslo) • Martin Stopford, London

Kjersti Tusvik, EFTA, Brussel • Stig Remøy, Olympic Shipping • Frank Solberg, Sibelco

Jens Ismar, Exmar, Belgium • Tore Ulstein, Ulstein Group • Christos Chryssakis, DNV

Jonas K. Nøland, NTNU • Jakub Walenkiewicz, DNV • Jan Emblemsvåg, NTNU

www.shippingoffshorenetwork.no

11.30

12.00

MARKET UPDATE AUTUMN 2023

Monday 2 October, 11.30–15.30 (incl. lunch)

Grand Bergen, Nedre Ole Bulls Plass 1

REGISTRATION & LUNCH

MACRO FOCUS

Are Central Banks the heroes or the bandits?

Global prospects in a time of persistent inflationary pressure.

Øystein Thøgersen, Professor of Economics, NHH

13.15 COFFEE BREAK

13.30

SHIPPING FOCUS

How will shipping markets react to upcoming changes in the regulatory environment?

Dry Bulk, Tanker & Container Markets

Tom Cochrane, Research Analyst, Dry Cargo Research, Howe Robinson Partners, London

14.15

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

Update on ETS etc. from a bank’s perspective Knut Ola Skotvedt, SVP Ocean Industries, DNB Bank ASA

15.00

15.30

Q&A SESSION

END OF MEETING

REGISTER HERE BY THURSDAY 28 SEPTEMBER

Members of Shipping & Offshore Network and the Maritime Oslofjord Alliance free of charge Non-members will be invoiced NOK 1,500

www.shippingoffshorenetwork.no

11.30

12.00

MARKET UPDATE AUTUMN 2023

Tuesday 3 October, 11.30–15.30 (incl. lunch)

Norges Rederiforbund, Rådhusgata 25

REGISTRATION & LUNCH

MACRO FOCUS

Are Central Banks the heroes or the bandits?

Global prospects in a time of persistent inflationary pressure.

Øystein Thøgersen, Professor of Economics, NHH

13.15 COFFEE BREAK

13.30

SHIPPING FOCUS

How will shipping markets react to upcoming changes in the regulatory environment?

Dry Bulk, Tanker & Container Markets

Tom Cochrane, Research Analyst, Dry Cargo Research, Howe Robinson Partners, London

14.15

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

Update on ETS etc. from a bank’s perspective Knut Ola Skotvedt, SVP Ocean Industries, DNB Bank ASA

15.00 Q&A SESSION

15.30 END OF MEETING

REGISTER HERE BY THURSDAY 28 SEPTEMBER

Members of Shipping & Offshore Network and the Maritime Oslofjord Alliance free of charge Non-members will be invoiced NOK 1,500

www.shippingoffshorenetwork.no