From sea to shore

The book deals with a highly interesting offshoot of the Norwegian shipping industry. John Ove Lindøe writes with insight and understanding about ships, crews and owners. He also details the positioning battles between the shipping companies, acquisition strategies, take-overs, collaboration and conflicts. Tanker shipping has long been an important segment of Norway's maritime sector. But it was conducted in distant waters far from home until Statfjord came on stream in the North Sea during 1979. The decision to ship oil by tanker from this giant field rather than sending it through a pipeline opened a new chapter in Norwegian shipping history. When Norway's offshore oil production was at its peak in 2001, no less than 28 large shuttle tankers were at work simultaneously on the Norwegian continental shelf. They gave work to 1 400 seafarers and to a domestic supplies industry which now dominates the world market for offshore loading systems. At the end of 2008, the shuttle tankers had completed more than 18 000 voyages from the oil fields off Norway without spilling a drop. John Ove Lindøe was born in 1949. He was a journalist for 23 years and then spent 15 years as a public affairs manager in the oil industry. Currently resident in Oslo, he works now as a freelance writer. From Sea to Shore is his third book.