Keeping it local
The construction of this year’s Ship of the Year winner is, in many ways, a true neighbourly project.
In Norway, we have a long and proud tradition of joining forces with our neighbours to get things done. We call it dugnad. The word originates from the Old Norse dugnaðr, meaning help or support.
Building a ship, however, can hardly be described as a dugnad. Nor is that the case here. But the proximity between the companies involved is nevertheless important.
An analysis shows that 47 per cent of the value creation takes place in Møre & Romsdal, while the figure rises to 63 per cent when the whole of Norway is taken into account.
These are important figures for the Norwegian maritime industry as a whole.
But it also takes courage to build a vessel as technically advanced as the one these three award winners have created together. REM Offshore CEO Lars Conradi Andersen readily acknowledges this.
When the vessel was ordered, the market was not exactly crying out for this type of ship. Nevertheless, the owners chose to take the plunge.
"We decided that the market had a need for this ship regardless, and that was when we ordered it ourselves."
It is not often that a shipowner can simply drop by the yard for a cup of coffee during a construction period. Here, however, they could – and they did.
Before long, the vessel will be delivered and, hopefully, put to work before the end of the year.
Not far from REM Offshore’s headquarters in Fosnavåg is Myklebust Verft, where the vessel has been built. As CEO Leiv Sindre Muren points out, it is not often that a shipowner can simply drop by the yard for a cup of coffee during the construction period. Here, however, they could – and they did.
In Ålesund, meanwhile, you will find the designers at Skipsteknisk, who, in their anniversary year, can add another Ship of the Year award to their achievements.
It has been a few years since the last one.
Yet while dugnad and neighbourliness may have played a part, they are not the reasons REM Offshore chose to build the vessel locally.
The reason is that some of the world’s very best shipyards, designers and suppliers are located in this region. And when the numbers also add up, it was probably not a difficult decision to make.
"If I said that we would build locally regardless of the cost, the owners would probably raise an eyebrow", says Andersen.
There is little more to say than congratulations to REM Offshore, Myklebust Verft and Skipsteknisk on being the thoroughly deserving winners of Ship of the Year 2026.