again, and with Vestfold producing a loss it was decided to sell Vikingen. The only buyer was the German government, and it could only pay with building a tanker. It was a huge political gamble, but the agreement was signed in Berlin early 1938 and the building of the tanker started at Deutsche Werft in Hamburg. Næss was acutely aware of war looming and followed the building himself. The vessel named Norness and delivered on 4 May 1939. The remaining whale factory vessel in the cooperating companies was now Vestfold; it would do its last season 1939 - 1940. After delivering some of its cargo to Procter & Gamble in New York and the rest in Liverpool it would act as a bunker vessel in Freetown until 1944, when it departed and was sunk by a German submarine. Into the tanker trade The whale factory vessels were actually tankers with the whale processing equipment added, so Næss and his partners ventured into tankers. The first small step was in 1930 ,with two motor tankers, Nore, a vessel and Norvinn , both considered large by then current standards. The vessels were to have traded in the spot market, but as the rates were low, both were laid up. Næss was not discouraged by this, and on 20 February 1936, he established the company Viking Tanker Company Limited with capital raised in London. The administration was in Paris, and the vessels were to sail under the Panama flag. It bought the two previous mentioned tankers from Rasmussen & Moe's Rederi A/S, and it ordered and bought several vessels. By 1938, the company had five vessels, Nore, Norvinn, Norvik, Norlys and Norbris, totalling - a large tanker fleet for that period. This resulted in a net profit of £192,575 for the company's second year of operation. War and the escape from Norway In September 1939, World War II began, and the tanker markets became very strong. Even though sailing under a neutral flag, the Viking Tanker Company vessels were able to trade as they followed British regulations. Næss travelled to Norway in April 1940, as he had been requested by the British Ministry of Trade to contact Norwegian shipowners that did not fully support the blockade of Germany. He would also meet his colleagues in Sandefjord, Johan Rasmussen and Torger Moe. Næss had a meeting on 8 April 1940, with the Norwegian Foreign