Technology is maturing, expertise is available and pathways to opportunity are opening. What the industry needs now is collaboration, commitment and action. Tuva Flagstad-Andersen, Regional Manager North Europe, DNV Maritime, believes the upcoming Oslo Ocean Days provides the perfect platform for progress.

“Oslo is the natural location for the industry to come together for high-level discussions.”

Sitting beside the sparkling waters of the Oslo fjord on a sunny summer afternoon, it’s difficult to argue with DNV’s Regional Manager for Maritime in North Europe, Tuva Flagstad-Andersen.

Her focus, however, extends far beyond scenery and sunshine.

“We are situated within one of the world's most complete maritime clusters,” she states. “One where owners, technology companies, investors, classification societies, regulators and research institutions work side by side.”

Flagstad-Andersen says this allows new ideas and approaches to be “tested, challenged and often put into practice”, as can be seen with the nation’s leading role in advancing battery-electric shipping, alternative fuels and other breakthrough green maritime technologies.

It also creates a fertile environment for sowing seeds of far wider collaboration.

And that, she says, is one of the motivations behind DNV taking a Main Partner role with Oslo Ocean Days:

“Oslo Ocean Days will bring together the people driving progress and discuss what it will take to move from early adoption to broader implementation. As such, it focuses not only

on where the industry is heading, but also on how to get there.”

Flagstad-Andersen calls the initiative “a unique opportunity.”

BRINGING CLARITY TO COMPLEXITY
Oslo Ocean Days is a new biennial event operating as a high-level leadership forum for the ocean industries. Taking place for the first time in Oslo city centre venues on 9-10 September 2026, it aims to bring together industry leaders, investors and policymakers around fast-moving topics, while providing a fresh space for insight, dialogue and international networking. Held in non-Nor-Shipping years, it both complements the established event week and delivers a bold new arena for interaction at the highest industry levels.

DNV immediately identified how ‘the world’s leading classification society’ could bring added value.

“We want to help bring clarity to complex decisions,” Flagstad-Andersen explains. “The challenge today is not a lack of information, but making the right trade-offs under uncertainty. Companies are navigating technology choices, regulatory developments and commercial pressures at the same time. That’s a huge challenge.”

She continues: “What we bring is a cross-industry perspective. By combining data, technical expertise and experience from real projects, we can help attendees better understand their options, the trade-offs involved, and what it takes to move from ambition to implementation. The goal is simple: to help companies move from analysis to action.”

Because, as she adds with genuine conviction, “the biggest risk right now is not acting!”

EFFICIENCY IN FOCUS
Flagstad-Andersen, it becomes clear, is no fan of the ‘wait and see’ approach.

Having been with the Oslo-headquartered organisation for over 20 years, she has significant experience from the front line of industry change, witnessing how strategic inaction has a tendency to undermine sustainable success.

“The companies that make real progress tend to be the ones that move where they can today, while keeping flexibility open for tomorrow,” she states.

An approach that has never been as important as it is now:

“There is a lot of uncertainty around future fuels, infrastructure and regulation, but that should not stop action. In fact, it makes it more important to focus on what is already available! Improving energy efficiency is the most immediate opportunity. It reduces fuel consumption, cuts emissions and strengthens competitiveness, regardless of which fuel pathway ultimately scales. That makes the overall transition to new fuels more achievable, because less fuel will be needed in the first place.”

It’s a transition that is already well underway, Flagstad-Andersen adds, with projects – and here she mentions everything from ammonia and methanol to major infrastructure developments - now moving beyond discussion and into the implementation phase.

The potential, she stresses, is clear, but the decision making processes and the way ahead are often less so.

It’s here where Oslo Ocean Days, together with partners such as DNV, can make a real difference.

NAVIGATING NEXT MOVES
“I want participants to leave with a clearer view of where they can act today,” Flagstad-Andersen underlines. “The conversations I hope to experience are the ones that help organizations move from discussion to decision-making - whether that relates to fleet investments, operational improvements, new technologies or future fuel strategies.”

The collaborative nature of the event programme will be central to achieving that ambition.

“No one can solve this alone,” she opines. “What works is when the whole value chain moves together. We have seen this in Norway, where collaboration has helped move solutions from pilot projects into real operations.

“The next phase is not about ambition, but coordination. Progress will depend on how well different parts of the industry are able to move in the same direction, at the same time.”

Moving in the direction of Oslo at the beginning of September is a good start, she concludes.

“We’re already seeing real progress… what matters now is maintaining momentum, learning from experience, and bringing more proven solutions into everyday operation. Oslo Ocean Days can be the ideal enabler for that development. I’m really excited to see what we can achieve together. See you in Oslo.”