More og Romsdal
Maritime industrial heartland where shipbuilding expertise pivots from petroleum supply to offshore wind while fishing sustains coastal communities.
More og Romsdal defines Norway's maritime industrial heartland—a coastal county where shipbuilding, offshore supply, and fishing have clustered for generations, creating engineering capabilities that export globally. Alesund, Molde, and Kristiansund serve as the three urban centers, each with distinct industrial specializations within the broader maritime theme.
The shipbuilding cluster around Alesund and the Sunnmore coast constructs offshore vessels, fishing boats, and increasingly, specialized ships for offshore wind installation. This represents ecological succession within Norwegian industry—the same engineering expertise that served petroleum now pivots toward renewable energy, maintaining employment even as the customer base transitions.
Fishing remains foundational. The county's coastal communities historically depended on cod and herring catches; today, a mix of wild fisheries and aquaculture sustains these economies. The Romsdal Alps provide scenic backdrop that attracts hiking and skiing tourism, adding service sector employment to the industrial base.
The Atlantic Road—a engineering marvel connecting islands along a storm-exposed coastline—has become a tourist attraction in its own right, demonstrating how infrastructure can generate economic value beyond its transport function. By 2026, expect continued maritime industrial evolution toward offshore wind, fishing and aquaculture stability, and tourism growth as infrastructure improvements reduce the county's perceived remoteness.