Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA is a Norwegian multinational maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the largest maritime network in the world, with over 2200 locations worldwide. The WW group was founded on 1 October 1861 in Tønsberg. The company's first vessel was the barque Mathilde in 1886. Halfdan Wilhelmsen was forward thinking and realised that steamboats were the future, therefore in 1887 he bought the vessel Talabot. It was only after they bought Talabot that the company started making profits. Thence, all their ships have been named, started with the letter "T", often leading to the same name given repeatedly to different ships over time. For example, there have been at least four ships named Talabot ranging from tankers to ro-ro vessels. Since 1978 the main owners have been the siblings Cecilie Paus and Helen Juell, and their now deceased brothers Wilhelm Wilhelmsen and Finn Wilhelmsen. Wikipedia