Paal Wilson & Co A/S was a shipping company founded in 1942 that operated short sea

Short sea shipping

The modern terms Short sea shipping and marine highway refer to the historical terms coastal trade, coasting trade and coastwise trade, which encompass the movement of cargo and passengers mainly by sea, without directly crossing an ocean. Deep sea shipping, intercontinental shipping or ocean...

 liner services throughout Europe. It merged its operations with Jebsens

Jebsens

Kristian Jebsens Rederi usually known as Jebsens was a short sea liner shipping company founded in 1929. Operations were ceased i 1993 when the company merged its operations with Paal Wilson & Co to form Jebsen Wilson Euro Carriers...

 in 1993 when they formed Jebsen Wilson Euro Carriers. Paal Wilson & Co merged with Euro carriers in 2001 to create Wilson ASA

Wilson ASA

Wilson ASA is a shortsea liner shipping company that operates about 100 vessels, of which 64 are owned. The ships are bulk carriers in the range of to . The company is controlled by Kristian Eidesvik who owns about 80% of the company...

.

History

Paal Wilson (1911–1985) started his own shipping company in 1942 after having worked for a shipping and mining company. At first the company chartered vessels providing services to companies such as Hafslund

Hafslund ASA

Hafslund ASA is a Norwegian power company. The company owns the power grid and district heating in Oslo as well as nine hydroelectric power plants. Hafslund is the largest owner of power grids and the largest end-user seller of electricity in Norway. Hafslund also owns 11,5% of Renewable Energy...

 and Bjølvefossen. He expanded with the use of chartered vessels, and soon started with transatlantic sailings, including lumber transport from British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 to Europe. In 1957 Wilson started the branded service Norwegian Rhine Line that provided point-to-point services from the Rhine to Norway without having to go via Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

. Customers included Hafslund, Tinfos

Tinfos

Tinfos is a private Norwegian holding company. Its roots dates back to 1875, and has today the head office in Oslo, Norway. The firm is one of the oldest companies in its field of activity in Europe. Its main products are silicomanganese, High Purity Pig Iron and titanium dioxide. The company is...

, Øye Smelteverk, Elkem

Elkem

Elkem is one of Norway's largest industrial companies, and one of the world's leading suppliers of metals and materials. The company's main products are aluminium, energy and silicon as well as specialised products such as ferrosilicon to foundries, microsilica and carbon...

 and Årdal og Sunndal Verk

Årdal og Sunndal Verk

Årdal og Sunndal Verk or ÅSV is a defunct Norwegian state owned company that operated the aluminum plants in Årdal, Sunndal, Høyanger and Holmestrand. The company was established to take advantage of the hydro-electric power plants in the respective villages to create aluminum plants...

.

In 1958 Rieber & Søn

Rieber & Søn

Rieber & Søn is a Norwegian food manufacturing company the owns and produces a wide range of products and brands. The company is based in Bergen with more than 25 brands in 12 countries, of which 7 have manufacturing plants...

 bought 40% of the company, and by 1982 Wilson managed 42 Rhine-fitted vessels in addition to transatlantic lumber vessels. In 1985 Paal Wilson died, and Rieber & Søn wanted to withdraw. In 1988 IPG Shipping bought 67% of the company, and in 1993 the operational division was transferred to the joint venture

Joint venture

A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

 Jebsen Wilson Euro Carriers. In 1995 Kristian Eidesvik bought part of Paal Wilson & Co, and by 2001 he owned the entire group that was renamed Wilson ASA.