As soon as Tor Olav Troim arrived at Frontline’s third-quarter results presentation this week, the assembled masses knew something extraordinary was in the offing.

John Fredriksen’s most trusted aide is not a man for run-of-the-mill occasions and those crammed into the Oslo meeting were not disappointed as Troim laid out the financial difficulties facing the world’s largest independent tanker owner.

For once, an axeing of dividends took a back seat as Troim warned the company would run out of cash in the first quarter of 2012 and confirmed Fredriksen would step up to the plate to support his ailing flagship company.

Since