It has been 100 years since the Norwegian Shipbrokers’ Association (NSA) was formed, and 300 guests including Crown Prince Haakon celebrated the occasion at Gamle Logen in downtown Oslo.
NSA director Hans Nicolai Edbo says its members are different, but a common factor is that they offer added value to the customers, which often are shipowners.
The organisation has 113 member companies with around 1,000 active brokers. Thirty-five of the firms are based in Bergen and 24 in Oslo, but many also hail from smaller cities around the Norwegian coast.
The largest broking firms, such as Clarksons Platou, Fearnleys, Grieg Shipbrokers and Steem1960, have grown sharply in recent years and secure a large part of their revenues from international customers.
Although shipowner John Fredriksen is based in Cyprus and lives in London, he does extensive broking with Norwegian firms. The shipping tycoon began his career as a messenger boy at shipbroker Blehr & Tenvig in Oslo in 1961.
Although the NSA started in 1919, the history of Norwegian shipbroking goes back further. Fearnleys, for example, is celebrating its 150-year anniversary in 2019.
