New millennium, new opportunities
You cannot know where you are going unless you first know where you are and where you have been. The same could be said of business management in industry and commerce.
The future lies with GAS
Norway is one of the world’s major oil producers, and now that its oil and gas industry has recently been bolstered by new framework conditions, many are wondering what the future will bring. Technological developments predict a rising demand for Norwegian gas.
Tina helps internationalise NORSKE SHELL
Stavanger is the ‘oil capital’ of Norway. This is where the offshore oil industry started more than 30 years ago, with discovery of the Ekofisk oil field on the Norwegian Continental shelf. Stavanger is still the centre of the Norwegian offshore cluster, and here are the headquarters of Norske Shell - at Risavika, close to supply ship bases, the airport and heliport, and the city centre. And here managing director David Loughman explains how Shell operates in the international environment, and about its management philosophy . . . and Tina.
Software Engineering Smooths product manufacture
Software development projects tend to take longer than expected, cost more than expected and often don’t function as expected. Most companies experience this, and nobody is proud of it. Manufacturing giant ABB has realised that the solution lies in software engineering.
DNA technology improves oil reservoir management
Traceability of materials and components has always been important to DNV’s work to safeguard life, property and the environment. Bio-technology has revolutionised this, and the latest developments in DNA technology have opened a gateway for a new line of services for DNV’s partner company ChemTAG.
Nauticus on Board helps shipowners FORESEE PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY ARISE
DNV’s new classification system Nauticus on Board ushers in a new era in class notations. Extending and adapting the Nauticus ship-design and construction program introduced in 1995, the new system enables ship information to be efficiently shared between the owner and DNV through graphic, three-dimensional modelling.
Bayer succeeds with integrated systems
Product and service quality, safety and cost-efficiency. Comprehensive environmental protection - all are factors in achieving success for chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer. DNV is now helping Bayer to continuously improve its HSE-management systems with a new tool – the Bayer Assessment and Improvement Tool, BAIT – which aims to make the company a worldwide leader in Health, Safety and Environmental concern.
Fremantle Port Authority achieves the right balance in RISK MANAGEMENT
The Fremantle Port Authority (FPA) was the first in Australia to undertake a comprehensive Quantitative Risk Analysis and Audit of its Safety Management System. Today, the FPA has adopted an approach which sees risk management as the natural way to do business, integrating it as a part of day-to-day management.
Join Norway’s business leaders in EXPLORING THE FUTURE
Many questions face us at the start of the new millennium - what future challenges and changes shall we meet ? Will they be beneficial? How will they affect our business? As a new decade and century begin, six influential business executives here explain to FORUM editor Stuart Brewer what they believe is in store for their respective industries.
BUILDING BRIDGES Between offshore and shipping
The most important task for us is to combine the best of both the shipping and offshore worlds. The combination of floating production and offshore loading is especially relevant, since this contains important elements from both sectors,’ says Brit Rugland, CEO of Norwegian shipowner Navion.
Politics influence the future of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant
Bordering Belarus, on the southern shores of Lithuania’s Lake Druksiai, is one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants. Its operators are striving to meet international safety standards to avoid another Chernobyl catastrophe.
DNV Class for the world' largest cruise ship: VOYAGER of the SEAS
Voyager of the Seas, at 142,000grt the world’s largest cruise vessel yet delivered, entered service on her Western Caribbean schedule in late November. On each cruise, her almost 4,000 holidaymakers can enjoy rock-climbing, ice-skating, admiring $12 million worth of art treasures … without setting foot ashore.
The new growth area: Cruising in ASIAN WATERS
When Meyer Werft of Papenburg, Germany, delivered SuperStar Leo and SuperStar Virgo in 1998 and ’99, a further 4,000 lower berths were added to capacity in the rejuvenated cruise market of South East Asia. Both ships exemplify technology applied to the quest for safety.
Environmental care in CAR MANUFACTURE
To be competitive, companies must take a clear stance on environmental matters,’ says Gunnar Eik, CEO of the Motor Group representing Mitsubishi Motors in Norway. Mitsubishi’s Norwegian environmental plan will be certified to ISO 14001 by the year 2001.
Managing technology: SIX STEPS TO SUCCESS
Change is the common denominator in modern business practice. Most businesses use IT in some form or another to handle their information and communications needs, but often too little thought is invested in change programmes: many IT projects are delivered too late or incomplete, or fall below original expectations, and the entire change process suffers.
Certification of information security: Protect your most important asset
It is impossible to calculate the business risk of inadequate information security; addressing this, BS 7799, the new Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification, controls the risk and enhances security.
Marine insurance highlights THE CHANGING PATTERN OF RISK
Ship failure presents a much more optimistic picture, with a two-thirds reduction during the 1990s - the credit for which must be shared by the classification societies and shipowners.’ This is one of the leading conclusions from the recently published ten-year analysis of trends in maritime risk by the UK P&I Club. Karl Lumbers, the Club’s Manager of Ship Inspection and Loss Prevention, warns that human error still continues to be a serious challenge, accounting for 58% of major claims, and emphasises the need for education and training in loss prevention.
Sembawang’s repair and conversion skills offer ships A NEW LEASE OF LIFE
70 per cent of the world’s fleet of oceangoing ships are more than ten years old. As individual ships age, so the growing cost of their operation and maintenance encourages shipowners to replace them with newbuildings or younger successors. But there is an alternative: to extend their life span by judicious upgrading or conversion. A number of profitable shipyards around the world specialise in this option.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES WORLDWIDE
There may not be room for more mega - mergers in the private sector. The next move is more likely to be on the part of national governments and state-owned oil companies looking for opportunities to improve efficiency and value creation,’ says BP Amoco Norge general manager Greg Coleman.
Due Diligence Audits pave the way to Risk-Free Property Purchase
No documents are signed before a Due Diligence report is on the table,’ says technical operations director Halfdan Kverneland Olafssøn of Coca-Cola’s Nordic and Northern Eurasia Division. As part of the company`s environmental policy, all properties under consideration for purchase or acquisition are being assessed before any transactions take place. ‘It enables us to get the total costs on the table before any decision is made.’
IN HARMONY WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Claimed to be ‘the first publishing house that knows its trees’, Germany’s Axel Springer Verlag has for many years been a newsprint buyer that has set environmental standards. Even its suppliers are certified.
Norway at a crossroads
Norwegian shipping is facing a wealth of opportunities. Economic growth in most regions of the world, not least in South East Asia, is opening up a new era for sea transport.