Despite the perceived decline of the Norwegian shipping industry, Tor E. Svensen, chief operating officer of DNV Maritime, believes quality, competence-focused Norwegian shipowners have a future.

Addressing delegates at the recent joint Hellenic-Norwegian conference in New York, Svensen said he believed quality, competence-focused owners have a future. "It all comes down to a question of competence, and that competence is difficult to move. For DNV, the question has been: how can we adapt to the change and remain strong? Winners attract winners and competition breeds success," he said. Under Svensen's leadership, DNV's maritime activities have achieved their strongest position ever.

The conference included a session which was taken up by a relative comparison between Greece and Norway in the maritime context. Under the theme 'Shipping without borders - has national identity become irrelevant?' Marianne Lie, the director general of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association, warned delegates that unless the Norwegian owners are backed by long-term political predictability and competitive terms for international operation, the Norwegian shipping industry will continue to erode in some areas.

The conference was otherwise influenced by the upswing currently experienced by the shipping world. Derrick Betts, who together with Richard du Moulin chaired the conference, talked about a boom period for shipping. Per Heidenreich, who opened the conference, stated that the current developments were bad for customers and good for shipping. There was also widespread agreement that quality and safety were more important to shipping now than ever before.

Bp's Bob Malone said what probably everyone was thinking: "National identity is irrelevant. Safe and environmentally friendly transport are what counts. Bp is in the business of managing risk. We must regain public trust. A serious shipping incident is what we fear most. All of us have to maintain a high standard and raise the quality of the tonnage."

Both Greek and American members of the panel gave optimistic reports about favourable tax conditions and support for the building of American ships in American yards.