Ocean Tanker

"The gold rush began early in 1978, and the starting point was the least likely for the arch-capitalist John Fredriksen, namely East Germany. Ocean Tanker managed the entire East German tanker fleet, eight ships, and Northern Shipping brokered all the shipments. The Soviet Union supplied the Germans with oil, but occasionally turned off the taps, and then the Germans themselves had to send their ships to friendly Iraq and exchange for oil. Otherwise, Ocean Tanker controlled the fleet, but this limited freedom of action meant that the price Ocean Tanker paid was low. Much lower than what a skilled broker could achieve for individual trips in the market."

"It is not easy for a new and unknown Liberian company to take in ships at a fixed price. The owner of the ship cannot be sure to get their settlement if the market falls, and the company does not have significant capital. However, initially, it was a question whether the shipowners knew that their ships ended up in Ocean Tanker, and not in Fahdi Shipping, which most were well acquainted with. It all went through Northern Shipping as a broker, and Northern was so active that many shipowners perhaps did not think to ask any further."