Considering that Norden's chairman of the board, Mogens Hugo (photo left), has secured shareholders dividends of almost USD 720.8 million over 20 years while at the same time making sure that the carrier's reserves were well-padded, there is probably no doubt that he will receive nice rounds of applause when he formally steps down on Thursday, May 23rd.

If anybody, he has personified Norden's strategy, which over two decades has on the one hand transformed a small regional carrier into a global player and increased the size of the fleet tenfold to about 250 ships, while on the other hand ensuring that there was money on the books.