Nor-Shipping 2003: Bigger Than Ever

When Nor-Shipping 2003 opens its doors on June 3 to the 19th shipping trade fair, nearly 1,400 exhibitors with close to 6,000 individuals representing more than 30 nations, will dominate the large new exhibition and congress center in Lillestrøm, which is just outside the city center

The predecessor to the Nor-Shipping trade fair - an exhibition called Dekk og Dørk (Deck and Engine Room) — was held for the first time in the beginning of the 1960's, organized by Norwegian Industrial Fairs (now Norway Trade Fairs) in cooperation with the trade magazine, Skip. The first two exhibitions were entirely national, focusing more on the Norwegian sailor and his work place onboard rather than the international market.

The international potential for a Norwegian shipping exhibition was recognized by a Norwegian ship owner and magazine publisher, Per Selvig. He contacted then-Secretary General of Norwegian Industrial Fairs, Edv. Mowinckel-Larsen, suggesting a broader and more international focus for the next maritime exhibition, organized with the support of Selvig's magazine Norwegian Shipping News. Before the opening in Oslo in May 1965, a new name for the event was launched — The First International Shipping Exhibition.

Due to the slumping maritime markets towards the end of the 1960s, the next exhibition did not take place until the end of May 1968, and then again in 1971, when the name "Nor-Shipping" was used for the first time. From then on, Nor-Shipping has been a bi-annual event, organizing the 19th fair in June this year.

A significant change of course took place at the fair in the early 1980's, when the purely technical exhibition was transformed to an event covering also the economic and financing aspects of the shipping industry, in short, Nor-Shipping had found the format, which is its guideline even today.

For more information log on to: www.nor-ship.com

Speakers' Corner At Nor-Shipping 2003

At this year's Nor-Shipping, scheduled from June 3-6, 2003, exhibitors are offered the opportunity to present interesting topics at "The Nor-Shipping Speakers' Corner" from a centrally located rostrum in the glass-enclosed "Main Street."

Each speaker will be allotted a maximum of 20 minutes for his/her presentation, with a further 10 minutes set aside for questions and answers.

When an exhibitor books the Speakers' Corner, it is automatically included in the Events Program, and merits a mention in the news column on the Nor-Shipping web site. If a sufficient number of papers are registered, organizers will consider establishing a special web page dubbed "Speakers' Corner" where the papers will be published after the reading on the soapbox.

This is a service offered solely to exhibitors. If interested, please contact Svein O. Mogan ([email protected]) for registration. If you are not an exhibitor, but would like to know more about becoming one, contact Laila Mikalsen, our marketing executive (tel.: +47 66 93 91 39 or e-mail to [email protected])