Norwegian industry initiative GCE Subsea has decided to change its name to GCE Ocean Technology, effective February 1, 2019.
The issue of a name change has been up for discussion on several occasions as the cluster is exploring further markets beyond the traditional oil and gas sector.
The new name gives the cluster a more distinct identity and is more inclusive as it reflects, to an even greater extent, what is and will be the GCE’s focus areas in the years to come.
“What is happening at present is that we are profiting from more areas than just oil and gas. We have branched out and people’s jobs have become more secure. We needed a new name to reflect these changes,” says Owe Hagesæther, chief executive officer of GCE Ocean Technology.
The accumulated competence from the Norwegian oil and gas production is now being utilised to build an industry within renewable energy like offshore wind, tidal power, and wave power. Other related markets the cluster will focus on are aquaculture and deep sea mining technology. However, the cluster will continue to focus on the oil and gas sector with full strength.
“These measures will contribute to opening up new markets and thereby enable growth. Moreover, it will contribute to an improved cash flow, the creation of more jobs, the increase of export income, and to reducing the level of risk in our companies’ customer portfolio. They will also make the companies less dependent on oil and gas as they expand into new markets and become more differentiated,” says Hagesæther.