It's the scoop they all wanted, from the Wall Street Journal to Processed Meats Weekly.
But TradeWinds got there first: John Fredriksen's favourite food is sausages.
When Hello! magazine turned down the story and accompanying restaurant-based photoshoot, the tycoon talked to TradeWinds about his culinary preferences — and the new love in his life.
Fredriksen met Maryam Mohaghegh 14 months ago and the magnate described their relationship as “nice”, which is not exactly Tom Cruise jumping around on Oprah’s sofa in terms of rapture, but perfectly acceptable in a gentleman of mature years.
They shared a lunch with TradeWinds at Oslo’s Theatercafeen, where the shipowner opened up about the future and his ideal nosh.
But gourmet sausages will not be enough to lure Maryam from London permanently, she (almost) said.
Staying in Norway, those long winter evenings must just fly by in the land of the midnight sun.
Not content with streaming live footage of a log fire on national TV in recent years, our Nordic cousins are also keen bakers.
But instead of the traditional gingerbread houses for Christmas, young people took to social media to show off confectionery representing the sunken frigate Helge Ingstad, which went down off the country’s coast after a clash with a Tsakos Energy Navigation tanker.
It just goes to show that the only time shipping really impinges on the mainstream consciousness is when something sinks.
Not to be outdone, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) sent out a press release claiming Santa had been spotted on his sleigh from a merchant ship in the Pacific Ocean — on 20 December, which seemed to be jumping the gun a little.
Didn't he have presents to make, using little elven helpers on zero-hours contracts?
Younger fans of the rotund chimney-botherer were invited to track his progress live using satellite info. More details can be found in the Secret Santa Files section of NORAD’s website.
