Causes and effects of FDI by the Norwegian maritime industry

A theory of replacement in the context of ocean going vessels is discussed. The approach is based upon costs rather than profits, and while there appear to be many difficulties in applying replacement theory to ships it is shown that there are some segments where the theory can still usefully be applied. The effect on replacement resulting from varying important cost parameters is shown and it is found that while fiscal measures have very little effect, capital cost and operating cost profiles have the most important influence. It is concluded that shipowners need to keep themselves fully informed of changes in cost and improvements in technology that may indicate replacement of a vessel somewhat sooner than normal replacement age.     

Coming Soon to a Fjord Near You: Future Jellyfish Scenarios in a Changing Climate

Over the last decades, a dense population of the deep-sea/oceanic scyphozoan jellyfish Periphylla periphylla has established itself as top predator in the Trondheimsfjord in Norway, which has caused the traditional fisheries in this fjord to suffer. This was, however, not the first fjord this jellyfish invaded, and data suggest that it will not be the last one, either. With warmer temperatures, the jellyfish is moving northward in Norway, but not all fjords are created equal, and it is not thriving or taking up residence just anywhere. The current article explores three fjords in which Periphylla periphylla has become the top predator and outcompeted former ones. The main question of interest is why the jellyfish becomes dominant in one fjord and not another. The next question is which other Norwegian fjords further north exist with similar characteristics where we therefore would expect Periphylla periphylla to proliferate in the future. The latter is important from a policy and adaptation perspective for the local community of people, since the proliferation of the species unmistakably leads to fewer fish for commercial harvest and potentially less attractive waters for tourism purposes. Results show that three northern fjords, the Skjerstadfjorden the Holandsfjorden, and Stordjupna in the Vestfjord appear to be particularly vulnerable to a future Periphylla periphylla invasion.     

Using the SKAGEX dataset for evaluation of ocean model skills

Numerical ocean models are now being applied in numerous oceanographic studies. However, the qualities of the model results are often uncertain and there is a great need for standards and procedures for evaluation of the skills of numerical general circulation models. In this paper measurements from repeated hydrographical sections across Skagerrak taken in 1990, the SKAGEX dataset, are used to evaluate the skills of two σ-coordinate ocean models and to study the sensitivity of these models to model parameters. A methodology for quantification of model skills based on observations from repeated hydrographical sections in general is suggested. Area averages of absolute differences are for Skagerrak completely dominated by the discrepancies in the upper few meters of the ocean and may not be used to assess models' abilities to reproduce the fields in the larger and deeper part of the ocean. Therefore, discrepancies between average values in time from the observed fields and time averaged values from model outputs are related to the natural variability of the fields. The numbers produced with the suggested measure are relative numbers that will be specific for each section and for each series of observation. Ideally we would therefore like to see the measures computed for a number of sections for various models and choices of model parameters in order to assess model skills. The value of the SKAGEX dataset as a tool for model improvements is demonstrated. Evidence to support the importance of applying non-oscillatory, gradient preserving advection schemes in areas with sharp density fronts is given. The method is used to identify that the forcing/initial values/boundary values for the temperature field are inferior to the corresponding values for the salinity field. With the present coarse resolution, 11 layers in the vertical, it is shown that it is far from obvious that the quality of the model results improve when replacing simple Richardson number formulations for vertical mixing processes with higher order turbulence closure in the Skagerrak area.     

Causes and effects of FDI by the Norwegian maritime industry

This paper analyses foreign direct investments (FDI) in Asia by the Norwegian maritime industry. It focuses on three topics: (1) Why do Norwegian maritime companies invest abroad? (2) What are the effects of maritime foreign direct investments on the Norwegian maritime milieu? (3) What are the effects of these investments on the host country? By analysing specific Norwegian maritime companies, it was found that the FDIs have partly been induced by the instability of the Norwegian policy towards this sector. Several firms also point at the importance of being closer to the Asian market as a significant reason for FDI, and the Norwegian ship equipment industry tends to 'follow' the shipping companies abroad. The domestic effects of FDI are uncertain, and are likely to depend on the motivation behind the investments. Finally, using Singapore as an example, it is argued that the host country effects of FDI tend to be positive.     

Food supply mechanisms for cold-water corals along a continental shelf edge

In recent years it has been documented that deep-water coral reefs of the species Lophelia pertusa are a major benthic habitat in Norwegian waters. However, basic information about the biology and ecology of this species is still unknown. Lophelia live and thrive under special environmental conditions of which factors such as temperature, water depth, water movement and food supply are important. The present work explores the hypothesis that Lophelia forms reefs in places where the encounter rate of food particles is sufficiently high and stable over long periods of time for continuous growth. This is done by relating the distribution of reefs with the results of numerical ocean modelling.Numerical simulations have been performed with an idealized bottom topography similar to what is found outside parts of the Norwegian coast. In the simulations the model is first forced with an along slope jet and then with an idealized atmospheric low pressure. The model results show that the encounter rates between the particles and the water layer near the seabed are particularly high close to the shelf break. This may indicate that many Lophelia reefs are located along the shelf edges because the supply of food is particularly good in these areas.A sensitivity study of the particle supply in the area close to the seabed for increasing latitude has also been done. This shows that the Ekman transport in the benthic layer tends to create a steady supply of food for benthic organisms near the shelf edge away from the equator.     

Numerical Study of Flow Near River Outlet in Namtso Lake

A river plume dynamics analysis was made in Namtso Lake by using a sigma coordinate non-hydrostatic numerical ocean model, the Bergen Ocean Model. Simulations were carried out by hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models with horizontal resolution of 5.00 m, 2.50 m and 1.25 m, respectively. The simulation results for the homogeneous lake are robust to the grid size, and the non-hydrostatic pressure effect is not important in this case. For the stratified case, the results are sensitive to both the grid size and non-hydrostatic pressure corrections.