Major storm batters Norway

Massive storm just named Berit is battering Norway. Some coastal cities are already flooded and In Norway’s second largest city of Bergen, the water level is just a little bit below the harbour wall and storm surge waters getting into the city remains a possibility. Sea level is expected to climb until Sunday, at a time of seasonally high tide an atmospheric pressure under 950 mbar contributes to potential record levels.

Oil companies had been holding emergency meetings ahead of the arrival of this destructive storm. Statoil (OSE: STL) had closed production on three platforms in the North Sea as a precautionary measure and ordered some of the non-critical personnel to leave .

Fish farming companies were also preparing the farmers on how to deal with inevitable problems stemming from unusually large movements of the facilities. Hurtigruten’s (OSE: HRG) ship MS Lofoten has gone to dock in a harbour in Måløy.

Ahead of the arrival, the possibility of super waves and hurricane force winds had been speculated on. Hurricane force winds have been seen in the North Sea, with at least over 25 m/s gusts and sustained waves closer to 15 meters (presumably translating to peak waves of over 30 meters) also experienced on the coastline. The storm is set to continue to Sweden and Finland, weakening as it continues to move inland. The stocks in the potentially affected industries performed strongly on Friday.