“Now I am making plans for three or five years going forward, not more than that,” said John Fredriksen, the leading Norwegian shipowner who controls 370 vessels and oil rigs.

The owner, now worth $16.4bn according to Bloomberg, turns 70 on 11 May, a day that will be celebrated modestly with his family, including his 96-year-old father, Gunnar, who lives in Eidsvoll outside Oslo.

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