Like None Other

By Matthew Workman

Plenty of air, plenty of time — an American learns a lesson or two about the Faroe Islands and the people who inhabit the country, including how a unique mix of tradition and modernity makes an irresistible appeal to visitors.

We landed at Vagar Airport early on a July evening and were immediately struck by how clean the air tasted while walking the tarmac to the terminal. It was the kind of clean, crisp air that people who live in cities like Los Angeles pay good money to breathe in special bars. I was in the Faroes on a 10-day mission to document as much of the islands and their people as I could for a podcast I produce about the islands. I work primarily in audio, but I was traveling with a Norwegian-born videographer who worked in Hollywood and had never been to the Faroe Islands before.

I had spent the previous two years obsessively studying maps and photos and reading anything about the country I could get my hands on. Thomas, on the other hand, only knew the Faroes as a place where Norwegians sometimes had to spend a day or two while on a cruise to somewhere else.

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Here’s the 2013 Edition of the Faroe Business Report

This year’s edition of the Faroe Business Report has been printed and simultaneously published online at FaroeBusinessReport.com. The eighth volume in the series, FBR 2013 presents an annual snapshot of the Faroese business community through illustrated feature articles and sponsored business profiles, peppered with updates of important business activities and events, statistics and more.

“In short we present the Faroe Islands,” says editor and publisher Bui Tyril, “as a place to do business, an attractive destination for conferences, an impressive producer and exporter of farmed and wild-caught fish, a country whose ports and shipping sector is fast developing, and an exciting territory for offshore oil and gas exploration.”

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Logistics Expert Nils-Erik Lindell Joins Front Seat

Swedish business journalist Nils-Erik Lindell — with many years of experience in covering shipping, transport and logistics — has joined the editorial team of Front Seat Magazine. One of the most respected in his field, Mr. Lindell is a key contributor in the June 2013 issue of Front Seat, the magazine’s maiden issue.

In the last 16 years Mr. Lindell has been responsible for producing and editing the LTS Rapport, a magazine published twice a year by the Logistics and Transport Foundation (Logistik och Transport Stiftelsen), a branch of the regional development agency Business Region Göteborg (BRG).

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FBR 2013 Excerpts for Brussels Seafood Expo

With this year's edition of the Faroe Business Report about two weeks away from publication, a targeted ‘light’ version of the FBR will hit the European Seafood Exposition, which will be held in in Brussels on 23 through 25 April.

The 28-page Faroe Business Report 2013 Excerpts — focusing on seafood, fisheries and aquaculture — features a cover story on the state of affairs in the Faroese seafood industry including an analysis of the pelagic fisheries, some of which have been surrounded by controversy, notably in the case of mackerel and herring. A detailed statistical account of seafood exports related to wild caught and farmed species is likewise included in the piece.

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A Critical Link for Drilling Operations

Following a year without drilling action offshore the Faroes, activities resume in June when the Brugdan II prospect is to be spudded in a campaign expected to last for several months — with busy times for Atlantic Supply Base.

For drilling activities related to offshore oil and gas exploration on the Faroese continental shelf, the Port of Runavík has a crucial part to play. Ever since the first prospect was drilled more than a decade ago, the port’s function as a traffic hub for all transports related to the upstream oil and gas industry has been handled by Atlantic Supply Base (ASB).

ASB has acted as the supply base of choice for all seven drilling campaigns which have been completed to date in the Faroe Islands — with such compelling results as to prompt words of praise from the company’s clients.

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Jeremy Cresswell to Cover Energy and Maritime Affairs for Front Seat

Jeremy Cresswell, an international authority on energy and maritime affairs, is joining Front Seat Magazine from the first issue, due out in May, as contributing editor covering oil and gas, renewable energy, shipping and maritime affairs.

Mr. Cresswell is the chief editor of Energy, the monthly supplement of the Aberdeen Press and Journal, which offers news, views and intelligence on the energy sector, notably upstream oil and gas and renewables. He has since 1985 worked primarily as an energy/maritime affairs journalist, editor and analyst, and has also worked with and contributed to many specialist titles such as Lloyd’s List, CA Magazine, Insider, various titles in the Baird Publications House, Petroleum Review, World Oil, Drilling Contractor and others.

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Building a Globally Mobile Workforce at Home and Abroad

Promoting an agenda of workforce mobility for the Faroese — and radical change for pelagic fisheries — Thor inspires domestic interest in offshore oil and gas and the maritime industry, boasting a track record of international success.

As one of the Faroe Islands’ leading vessel owners and operators, maritime services provider and fishing company Thor has had a profound influence on both public opinion and economic life in its home country.

Based on many years of experience in fishing, Thor launched its Offshore Services division in the mid 1990s, establishing itself as the first Faroese company to set up a dedicated vessel operation for the offshore oil and gas industry.

The company’s success in the seismic industry inevitably brought with it a changed culture over the years, not only internally but also more generally in the Faroese business community and the job market.

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