Monica Maeland News

Norway will block Rolls-Royce from selling a Norwegian maritime engine maker to a Russian company on national security grounds, its justice minister told parliament on Tuesday.Based on Norway’s west coast, and owned by Britain’s Rolls-Royce for more than 20 years, Bergen Engines supplies NATO member Norway’s navy as well as the global shipping industry.The blocking of the sale is a blow for Rolls-Royce, which is aiming to raise 2 billion pounds ($2.76 billion) from disposals by…

Norway has suspended the sale of a Norwegian engine maker owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings to a Russian-controlled company while it assesses the security implications for the country’s navy and the civilian sector, the government said on Tuesday.Norway’s NSM security agency is assessing the 150 million-euro ($178 million) sale announced on Feb. 4 of Bergen Engines to a company controlled by Russia’s TMH Group, NSM and the justice ministry said.Britain’s Rolls-Royce said it was selling…

Owners of ships serving the oil industry will be exempt from paying license fees for 2016 on vessels that have been mothballed, Norway's industry minister said in a statement on Tuesday. The price of crude oil has plunged 70 percent since mid-2014, leading to cutbacks in oil industry investments and lower demand for supply ships, anchor handlers and construction vessels. The fee per ship registered in Norway is about 35,000 Norwegian crowns ($4,000) per year, and the industry's overall savings are expected to amount to around 2.3 million crowns for the year, Industry Minister Monica Maeland said. Reporting by Terje Solsvik

Close to 1,000 maritime exhibitors showed off the breadth and diversity of the shipping industry at this week’s Nor-Shipping, the bi-annual event that opened in Oslo on 1 June. About 35,000 delegates from 70 countries are expected to attend more than 100 events during the weeklong event that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The speakers said that innovation and investment are key to boosting the maritime industry to new levels. A mix of geopolitics, regulatory pressure, innovation and business issues were discussed at the NorShipping. They also discussed important issues for shipping now and in the near future. Engineering experts at Nor-Shipping have called for more open-source systems to be used on vessels if shipping is to realize the efficiency goals for which it is striving.

Minister of Trade and Industry Monica Mæland and State Secretary for Climate and Environment Lars Andreas Lunde signed a declaration of cooperation with key players in the Norwegian coastal shipping industry today. This declaration aims to ensure that Norway has the world's most environmentally friendly fleet of coastal vessels. In the future, LNG and battery power are projected to comprise a considerable share of the fuel used by the global fleet. Norway already has a leading…

Norway's right wing government will retain its current holding in oil and gas firm Statoil , backing off a pre-election proposal to cut the stake to about 50 percent from the current two thirds of the shares. The government led by the Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg has pledged to reduce the state's role in the economy to give the private sector more breathing space and shrink what it considers a bloated public sector. The government owns about a third of shares listed…

DNV GL announced that it has moved into a new office that was officially opened by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Henrik O. Madsen, Group President & CEO, DNV GL. The official ceremony was part of the program of the Norwegian trade delegation visiting Vietnam this week. Besides the Crown Prince, the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Fisheries, Monica Mæland also attended the inauguration ceremony. DNV GL has had a presence in Vietnam since 1995. Starting out as a Representative Office…