Maritime Director Mr. Olav Akselsen and CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine Mr. Tong Chong Heong. Photo: Keppel CorporationAs Mr. Akselsen only entered into the position as Maritime Director in January this year, this was his first official trip to Singapore. Travelling along with the Director were Ms. Anita Malmedal from the Norwegian International Ship Register, as well as Mr. Lars Almkov and Ms. Kristine Pedersen from the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Their two-day program included visits with the Singapore Maritime Foundation and its CEO Mr. David Chin, the Maritime & Port Authority and Captain M .Segar, as well as Keppel FELS and the CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine Mr. Tong Chong Heong. Keppel FELS has over the last seventeen years built as many as twenty-three Norwegian commissioned rigs, and four new ones are currently under construction.
The delegation also met with some of the main Norwegian maritime companies stationed in Singapore. Singapore has the highest concentration of Norwegian companies in Asia and as much as eighty percent of these companies are somehow related to the maritime sector. The close connections between Norwegian and Singaporean maritime sectors provide both countries with great opportunities to share ideas and learn from each other’s experiences.