was on top, and change to oil when the demand for tanker tonnage was high. Trying years and the Zapata merger After the boom from mid 1956 to mid 1957 the shipping markets were depressed for years to come. In spite of this the Anglo Norness Shipping Company had impressive results: The cooperation with P&O in bulk carriers had started through Associated Bulk Carriers Ltd., and the battle of flags of convenience had been won. In twelve years the Anglo Norness fleet had expanded into one of the largest in the world, with 58 vessels totalling including new buildings and charters. The three years from 1964 were meagre for the Næss group. The market continued to be depressed, and the group had losses on the chartered vessels. Næss was put under considerable pressure to abandon his policy of operating in the spot market but he strongly resisted long time charters as he believed the markets would recover. Then, in June 1967 the Six-Day War erupted, and the Suez Canal closed for years to come. This created an enormous surge in demand for tanker tonnage and the Næss group was ideally positioned with 16 large tankers available, receiving extremely good rates for its vessels. With a strong financial situation Næss started thinking about the group's long-term strategy; the world economy was volatile, and there were inflationary pressure and currency problems. The company was courted by Occidental Petroleum Company and Zapata Offshore Company (founded in 1953 by George H. W. Bush), and the latter won the merger with an offer of $5 per share, valuing the company at $47.5 million. As a diversified offshore company Zapata seemed to be well positioned to take advantage of the expected boom in oil exploration and its offer was accepted in May 1968, and the company name changed to Zapata Norness Inc.. Næss started as a member of the board of the new company and initiated a huge expansion program, ordering a number of ship with a total costing $163 million. As Zapata had its offices in Houston it became tedious for Næss to attend board meetings; he withdrew and his son Michael was elected in his place. By 1972 Næss grew more and more concerned over the huge volume of new buildings, he feared a collapse of the market and was thus positive when approached by P&O and Hilmar Reksten who offered to buy his