Norwegian Shipping in the Twentieth Century: How an Increasingly High-Cost Nation Remained Competitive in a Global Market

Speaker: Professor Stig Tenold, Norwegian School of Economics

Chair: Dr Alan James, Senior Lecturer in War Studies

During the 20th century Norway became one of the wealthiest countries in the world. At the same time, Norwegian shipping companies remained competitive in international seaborne transport—perhaps the world’s most global industry. For more than 150 years Norwegian ships and shipping companies have played an important international role, transporting cargoes between foreign countries. On average, the Norwegian share of the world fleet in the 20th century has been around 6 per cent. The aim of this presentation is to give an overview of the development of Norwegian shipping and to explain how Norway managed to maintain its position as a leading maritime nation throughout the 20th century, despite fierce international competition and a series of technological and institutional changes. The success of Norwegian shipping in the 20th century can be explained by processes at four different levels: globalization at the international level, liberalization at the domestic level, concentration and specialization at the regional level and professionalization and innovation at the business level. Finally, we ask whether Norway should still be considered a shipping nation, and whether there is any future for Norwegian shipping in the 21st century.

Stig Tenold is Professor of Economic History at the Department of Economics. He has published widely on contemporary maritime history, both from an economic history and from a business history angle. In addition, he has published articles on East-Asian economic development, trade policy and popular music in scientific journals and anthologies. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the two leading maritime history journals – The International Journal of Maritime History and Mariner's Mirror – and one of three editors of the book series Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics.

His most recent book is Twentieth century shipping: Norway's successful navigation of the world's most global industry, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Hosted by the Laughton Naval History Unit on behalf of the British Commission for Maritime History and the Society for Nautical Research