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26MTRJanuary/February 2012 The city of Bergen is by far Norway´s largest port, with more than 13 million metric tonnes of cargo transported to and from Bergen in 2010. Bergen is also the country´s largest center for aquaculture and marine science research, and is home to the Institute of Marine Research and an active marine science research center at the University of Bergen. In addition, since the 1970s, Bergen has been a region of focus for Norway´s offshore oil and gas industry, given its strategic location close to several of Norway´s most important North Sea oil and gas fields. While Stavanger remains the Norwegian oil industry´s administrative hub, the Bergen region has established itself as a key opera- tional base - today, the Bergen region is home to 60% of Statoil operations for the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). In particular, the Bergen region today is a leader in the field of subsea technology ? companies here compete and collaborate to drive the development of new solutions for subsea oil and gas operations.This expertise was formally recognized in 2006, when Bergen was selected as home to a Norwegian-government sponsored subsea innovation cluster. A recent tour invited international marine-industry journalists to visit the cluster and learn more about its activities and ambitions.Cluster Development The Bergen cluster is part of a government investment in 12 regional groupings designated as Norwegian Centers of Expertise (NCE). Known as NCE Subsea, the Bergen cluster´s activities support innovation, increased capacity and internationalization. Because the Bergen region has specific strengths in after-market activities, NCE Subsea is also highly specialized, focussing on maintenance, modifi- cation and operations (MMO). The cluster is jointly administered by Innovation Norway, SIVA (the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway), and the Research Council of Norway. One hundred and twenty-four companies and organiza- tions are members of the NCE Subsea network, which is led by a board representing the entire Bergen region, as Inside Framo Engineering´slarge new facility at Horsøy, near Bergen, Norway. MTR#1 (18-33):MTR Layouts 1/3/2012 10:06 AM Page 26