The beginning

How and why did the North Sea Operators' Claims Conference start?

The architect of the Conference is Mr Max Slotte, working in those days for Tor Line AB, a Founding Member.

The conference was his brainchild approaching and enrolling the other founder members.

The conference was his brainchild approaching and enrolling the other founder members.

Mr Max Slotte has a lifetime in shipping business since 1953:

1953 Start of a Seagoing career, as a deckhand in old steamers
1963 Master Mariner, the Nautical College of the Åland Islands
1967 LL.B. University of Stockholm. Thereafter service as a court clerk
1969-1982 In-house lawyer Tor Line AB
1976-1989 North Sea Operators' Claims Conference
1982-1989 Lagerlöf & Leman, Dr. Philip Lemans Advokatbyrå AB
1989-2015 Setterwalls Advokatbyrå
2015 Advokatfirman Morris AB (Morris Law), Senior Counsel

Origins of the Conference

The origins of the Conference began with a meeting of several Scandinavian shipping lines and some of their insurers in Göteborg on March the 30^th 1976

Two side meetings "related but not properly nsocc" were held later at London: 2^nd June 1976 - North Sea Club Conference and 8^th June 1976 - Harmonisation (Freight) Conference.

This first meeting “of the not yet nsocc", the "0 NSOCC 1976 I” was summoned on March the 30^th 1976, the Conference for the establishment of rules for settlement of claims in respect of 'Articles of Transport' as an attempt to introduce uniformity in documentation between all operators on the North Sea, thus aiding and simplifying both insurance contracts and claims handling.

The Lines represented at this first meeting were: The Broström Group, Fred Olsen & Co, Roto Line AB, Svea Line AB, Sveriges Ångfartygs Assurans Förening and Tor Line AB.

After that first meeting, a second fundamental gathering took place on October the 11^th and 12^th 1976 in Kungälv, Hotel Fars Hatt, the Second Conference for the establishment of rules for settlement of claims in respect of 'Articles of Transport', - the "0 NSOCC 1976 II" - where additional participants were Assuranceforeningen GARD, Assuranceforeningen SKULD, Det Forenede Dampskibs- Selskab DFDS Ellerman Lines Ltd., AB Indemnitas, North Sea Ferries and Wallhamn AB.

A Third Conference for the establishment of rules for settlement of claims in respect of 'Articles of Transport' followed in 1977 in Ipswich, The Post House Hotel, London Road from September the 12^th to the 14^th - now the First Session or 1 NSOCC 1977 where the name North Sea Operators’ Claims Conference was agreed by the Founding Members:

Mr Åke Thor, Master Mariner. Sveriges Ångfartygs Assurans Förening (Goteborg)
Mr Allan Rogerson, General manager. Roto Line Ltd. (Felixstowe)
Mr Arnfinn Johnsen, Claims adjuster. Assuranceforeningen GARD (Arendal)
Mr Björn Elfström, Claims adjuster. AB Indemnitas (Stockholm)
Mr Douglas Durrant, General manager. PH Mathiesen & Co Ltd. (Newcastle)
Mr D V Robinson, Claims Manager. EWL - Ellerman Lines Ltd. (Hull)
Mr Edward Davison, Freight manager. North Sea Ferries Ltd. (Hull)
Mr Fredrik von Wachenfeldt, Forwarding manager. Stena Line AB (Göteborg)
Mr G E Scheel, Claims adjuster. PH Mathiesen & Co Ltd. (Newcastle)
Mr Göran Berger, Claims manager. Stena Line AB (Göteborg)
Mr Gunnar Topland, Claims adjuster, lawyer. Assuranceforeningen GARD (Arendal)
Mr Jan Torkildsen, Claims manager. Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab (Bergen)
Mr John Potts, Claims adjuster. The United Kingdom Mutual Assurance Association Ltd. (London)
Mr Kaj Bech-Nielsen, Managing Director. Det Forenede Dampskibs- Selskab DFDS AS (Copenhagen)
Mr Lars Eriksson, Claims adjuster. Svea Line AB (Göteborg)
Mr Lars Lagerlind, Claims adjuster. Sessan Line (Göteborg)
Mr Laurie S Allen, Claims manager. Tor Line Ltd. (Immingham)
Mr Lennart Nävergård, Freight manager. Roto Line AB (Wallhamn)
Mr Lennart Obstfelder, Claims adjuster. Tor Line AB (Göteborg)
Mr Magnus Jakobsson, Claims adjuster, lawyer. Assuranceforeningen SKULD AB (Stockholm)
Mr Max Slotte, Lawyer. Tor Line AB (Göteborg)
Mr Per Nilsson, Claims manager. Roto Line AB (Wallhamn)
Mr Rolf Henriksson, by proxy, Claims manager. The Bröstrom Group (Göteborg)
Mr Torsten Hiller, by proxy, Claims manager. Lion Ferry - Bonnier Group (Halmstad)
Mr Svein Ueland, Claims manager, lawyer. Assuranceforeningen SKULD (Oslo)
Mr Ulf Kollbratt, Claims adjuster. Sessan Line (Göteborg)

The Conference has taken place annually since 1976, with the number of participant companies and members growing gradually from 17 to around 50 today. 

To view a list of conferences, locations, hosts and highlights:

Explore the NSOCC timeline

Chairman's Reception @ Restaurant Wolf, Amsterdam. October 8^th, 2024
Chairman Thomas Bjørn Larsen 2003-2012 (SKULD Copenhagen and then SKULD Hamburg) - right
Chairman Andy Macrow 2012-2018 (West of England P&I Club) - left
Chairman Rune Dybedal since 2018 (NorthStandard) - center
(photo taken by Nils Heijboer with Rune Dybedal's smartphone and edited by Andres Sanchez-Marin)