“. . . and Norway is Shipping.” Coined by Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Ansgar Gabrielsen, this phrase emphasizes the importance of the shipping and maritime industries not only in Norway’s economy – they form Norway’s second-largest export earner and its largest service exporter – but also in terms of its national image and history. In 2005 the country is set to celebrate its 100th year as a leading maritime power, having won independence from Sweden in 1905. But with a coastline stretching some 21,347 kilometres, Norwegians have for thousands of years characteristically been a people of the sea.