 The first two times it was held, the event focused on local seafarers and their work on board local ships.Norwegian shipowner and magazine publisher Per Selvig saw the potential for an international shipping exhibition, and contacted Edvard Mowinckel-Larsen, then head of Norwegian Industrial Fairs, to propose a more international focus.Organized with the support of Selvig’s ‘‘Norwegian Shipping News’’ journal, the event was renamed International Shipping Exhibition and opened in Oslo during May 1965.