danish maritime magazine april 13

Arctic Cunard– preparing for a boom – first female captain

Welltec– a global leader

MaritiMeMagazine

Danish

1 - 2013

/ Daily news on www.maritimedanmark.dkdanish MaritiMe magazine

Royal Arctic Line– when experience and flexibility counts

Bringing off shore equipment to Greenland is a challenge – but Royal Arctic Line is up for it

As the national shipping line in Greenland we offer: · Ships and equipment

designed for Arctic conditions

· Weekly service from Europe to Greenland

· Own terminal facilities, and personnel in 13 Greenlandic harbours

· Many years of experience in navigating and operating in Arctic waters

Co-founder of

V I S I T D A N I S H S H I P P I N G . C O M

Danish shipping creates value

Daily news on www.maritimedanmark.dk / danish MaritiMe magazine

kolofon lauritzen– the new helmsman

Page 4

welltec– a global leader

Page 8

arctic– preparing for a boom

Page 10

c-bed– former ferries in new disguise

Page 12

uni-tankers– focus on small and intermediate

Page 14

force– like in the real world

Page 16

cofferdam– protecting seals

Page 20

shipping trainee– campaign with a new face

Page 22

captain– at the bridge

Page 24

danish MaritiMe Magazine

ISSN 1903-5888

editOrMartin UhlenfeldtPhone: +45 23 66 28 [email protected]

adsRené Wittendorff, CEOPhone: +45 70 20 41 55Fax: +45 70 20 41 [email protected]

publisher Maritime Danmark ApSEsplanaden 30.41263 Copenhagen KPhone: +45 23 66 28 99

layOutJUGEL&CO ReklamebureauPrinting: PE Offset A/S, Varde

Next issue: 22nd May 2013

advisOry bOardKlaus Kjærulff, Chairman SeaMall (Chairman)Jenny Braat, CEO Danish MaritimeJan Fritz Hansen, EVP Danish Shipowners’ AssiciationPer Jørgensen, Chairman MMF and Federation Internationale de Cadres des TransportBjarne Mathiesen, CEO Port of AarhusSteen Sabinsky, CEO Maritime Development Center of Europe / EMUCKurt Skov, CEO Blue Water ShippingLars Thrane, Founder af Thrane & Thrane

Arctic Cunard– preparing for a boom – first female captain

Welltec– a global leader

MARITIMEMAGAZINE

DANISH

1 - 2013

the newhelmsman of lauritzen

By MARTIn UHLEnFELDT

it is not the easiest situation, in which you take over the responsibility for the shipping company?

-When I in those days began working in the industry, my first job was to lay up ships. Since then, the market has been up and down many times. Of course, you prefer the market to be up, but it is also part of the job to be able to handle the market, when it is down. When the market is as now you find out how talented we actually are.

how talented are you then?-After all I know this organization and know that we have talented emplo-yees. It is our strength. Everybody can purchase vessels, we have seen that during the past 5-6-7 years. The decisive thing is, however, whether you can create a good and talented organization. During the many years where I have been at Lauritzen, we have always spent resources on educating people, selecting people, creating a career path. Provided for the right systems at people’s desks. Provided for establishing the right connections outside the house. So yes – I think we have a very talented organization.

today you have four legs to stand on with dry cargo as the clearly dominating business area. Will it continue to be so?-If I have to be really honest, I don’t know how it will look like in 3 or 4 years. The point is, after all, that things change all the time. We try to run a business, where we spread the risk while we at the same time get earnings,

which equal the risk we take. Whether it in two years time will be better to build some more offshore units, more dry cargo vessels or a series of gas vessels – we will look on that when we are there. Whether we decide to own some more or some fewer vessels are a question of how the balance looks. But one thing is for sure – in five years time we will still have a very large dry cargo organization and will be working a lot within dry cargo, Jan Kastrup-nielsen says.

-The problem within dry cargo is not shortage of cargo to transport. The problem is that all too many dry cargo vessels have been built. In the whole period, which we have been through there has been growth in the amount of cargo to be transported. So the demand side is healthy enough with an annually growth of 3-4-5 per cent. The problem lies within the supply. It is a self made problem; too many vessels have been built, simply. And there are too many ship yards. But it doesn’t mean that you cannot earn money on dry cargo. It means, however, that you have to look at your business model and you have to construct it according to the conditions, which exist outside the window.

-Perhaps we will have to be a little bit quicker on our feet. Be a little bit faster to change our business. Sometimes it could be that you should not have quite as much steel, which you own yourself. If you have earned a lot of money on something for a long time – and we actually did this on owning dry cargo vessels – then it can be difficult to let it go. When this is

On the 26 February, Jan Kastrup-Nielsen took over the job as chief executive officer in the shipping company J. Lauritzen following Torben Janholt, who as planned long ago retired. He took over the 128 year old shipping company at a time, where the market winds have blown dark red figures down to the bottom line. Kastrup-Nielsen is, however, ready to take up the challenges.


said, however, it is also correct to say that very few people saw it coming.

When do you expect to get a profit again?-As soon as possible.

you don’t have any idea?-If I were to decide, it would be tomorrow. I can only say that we will do everything we can. We then have to see when it will be. no matter how you turn it over in your mind, something has to happen in the markets.

The 55-year-old Jan Kastrup-nielsen knows the large white building at Sankt Annæ Plads, where the shipping company is housed, very well. He was employed at J. Lauritzen in 1987 after eight years at A.P. Møller-Mærsk.

At Lauritzen, Kastrup-nielsen was first employed as head of chartering at Lauritzen Tankers, after that as vice director in Lauritzen Kosan until 1993. He then chose to accept an offer regarding a job in the trading company Transammonia in London. Here, Kastrup-nielsen traded oil and gas, until he four years later was offered the job as CEO in the company. In 2000, he was brought back to J. Lauritzen as director in Lauritzen Kosan.

In 2009, the appointment as group chief executive and member of the shipping company’s three people large board of directors followed. In 2011, Jan Kastrup-nielsen was appointed to Chief Operation Officer and

thereby unofficially to Torben Janholt’s successor.

did it come as a surprise, when you in mid-november last year were appointed to succeed torben Janholt?-It has been part of the plan for a while. Torben and I have worked as if it were final; it is just the way you do it. you cannot make such things public too well in advance. Then those mechanisms that have to function will not be functioning, Kastrup-nielsen says.

how do you look at the future? are you an optimist?-you have to look upon it segment by segment. We have after all several legs to stand on. Our offshore activities are doing quite well, you see, we are doing fine. Within gas tankers we are actually doing quite well – we have had a profit in gas every single year since 2004. Within tankers we are at the level of break-even if we ignore depreciations. So if this situation is the worst, we still have three out of four segments, where we – the crisis considered – are doing quite well. And then there is dry cargo. -Whether I am an optimist within dry cargo? A big surplus of vessels is to be eliminated. now it looks like 2013 could be the first of the past 5-6 years, where the growth in demand could be bigger than the growth in tonnage. We are by any chance at the beginning, where the balance begins to be better. It is, however, a subtle balance, and there is still an unsolved problem. All too many ship yards exist around the world. But again: Ways to earn money within shipping without necessarily having many vessels

fortsættes >


exist. A number of business models can handle that. It is a question of knowing the market, live with it.

it doesn’t sound as if you are going to have a lot of new dry cargo vessels built in the years to come?-We are still having new dry cargo vessels delivered, but I don’t think that we are going to make contracts on many new dry cargo vessels. no, it is probably not the medicine for us. I think you have to be very careful about not falling in love with a strategy. The only thing I see as something you certainly have to do is to work with your organization. With the employees, with the systems. That is where you really have to play your part. And then you have to be sure that you will have a good and healthy discussion about all the things happening around the world in a way that your organization is ready to take it in and conclude and execute on the basis of that. you should never sit with the blinds down and think that you can figure the whole thing out. you really, really have to keep up with what is happening out in the world and adjust according to it. It is the sum of thousands of small margins, good decisions, which actually is running a business like this. How do you save one ton of fuel here, or 500 dollars there. A good organization motivates itself to take all these small decisions as we go along. It is hard work, but it is these virtues, which lead the company to be 128 years old. It is not by staking everything on one throw, Kastrup-nielsen says.

-My job is in reality to facilitate people’s working day, making them able to do their job as good as possible. So the things which have to be in place are in place. So they have an organization around them making them able to function. That they have some hardware and software – tools which are functioning. Capital reserves making us able to take decisions and do things. That we have a name making our business areas able to do busines-

ses with even the largest and most demanding companies in the world.

The shipping company J. Lauritzen is today working place for between 1300 and 1400 employees, of whom the vast majority are working at the shipping company’s vessels. The main part of the employees is foreigners, the 230-240 employees in the administration are, however, almost all Danes. And Kastrup-nielsen would like to change that.

-If I had a wish, I would like that we had some more people, who had a different background, who came from a different culture. But it is difficult to get people to Copenhagen. If we in the future are to live by transporting goods from Indonesia to China, it will not help us that we can come and say – listen, we come from Denmark. It would be a lot better, if we had some Indonesians employed or some Chinese. With their background, with their network, with their knowledge and understanding. The wea-ther and the burden of taxation we cannot really do anything about. But it is also about Denmark still being a difficult place for foreigners to be integrated. The Danes prefer to speak Danish together. Everybody can speak English, but when four Danes sit together with one Englishman in a room, it inevitably ends up with the Danes beginning to speak Danish over the head of people. It is just the way it is.

-Today we have offices a number of places abroad – Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford, and Tokyo. We try to send out some of our young employees a year or two as part of their education. I would very much like the flow to go in the other direction too, so some of our locally employed people could get a foreign assignment here at our place in a year or two. It is some of the things that we would like to work on, Jan Kastrup-nielsen says.


søby Shipyard finished 2012 with a couple of bigger project assign-ments and in some areas new markets. The shipping company

ESVAGT purchased AHTS “Esvagt T-201” from Singapore with a contract with Maersk in mind. The ship directly berthed, when it arrived at Søby after the sailing from Singapore via the Kiel Canal. During the upgrading to DP2 a Rolls Royce swing-up azimuth thruster with performance of approximately 880 kW and additional stern thruster was installed. This involved a bigger reconstruction and enforcement of the steel construc-tion in the affected area. The ship was beforehand equipped with one stern thruster, but the shipping company wanted bigger performance. After the ship’s construction was enforced, yet another stern thruster with performance of approximately 500 kW was therefore installed.

The whole propulsion system was logged on to the DP2 system, which was delivered to the shipping company, but installed by Søby Skibsele-ktro. So as to reduce the length of stay, work was done on the assign-ment 24/7, and though the weather was not good all the time, it was possible to paint the ship in the shipping company’s colors. The result was that Esvagt T-201 could leave at the agreed time and be in Esbjerg to load equipment before it went into operations as “Esvagt Server”.

re-cOating Of cargO tank With Marine lineThe latest initiative is re-coating of cargo tanks and reconstruction with the product Marine Line. Under the worst possible circumstances, rain – snow and frost, it was possible to re-coat the cargo tanks onboard one of Uni-Tankers’ vessels. The tanks were full blast of all tank bottomsand additional spotblasted and heated, so the steel had the correct temperature before the coating was performed and subsequently heat curing was done. Moreover, steam line was changed at the deck as well as Emergency Shower System. Old pipes were cut down and new pre-isolated pipes from LOGSTOR was installed by Søby Shipyard, tested by pressure and delivered according to GL’s rules. At the same time, the main engine as well as auxiliary engines was overhauled, and main classification of the whole vessel was done.

Søby Shipyard has for the last 2 months of 2012 employed approxi-mately 150 employees, and the working crew has been extremely flexible. They have worked for many hours and in several shifts, which has demanded much planning by the project leaders so as to prevent stops in the production.

PROFILE

conversion of ahts

SØBY VÆRFT A/Swww.shipyard.dk

sØby vÆrft a/sDokvej 5DK-5985 Søby Ærø

Tel. +45 6258 1123E-mail: [email protected]: www.shipyard.dk



it is only 20 years ago that Jørgen Hallundbæk established Welltec in Allerød, north of Copen-

hagen. Since then, the growth curve has only known one way – and that is upwards. When Welltec recently presented its annual report for 2012, the accounts showed a growth in revenues of 39 per cent to 1,700 million DKK, and similar growth is expected this year.

Jørgen Hallundbæk emphasizes that it has been primarily organic growth, and acquisitions have only have played a minor role.

There are good reasons, why Welltec has seen such impressive growth. By means of the company’s advanced technology, some oil companies can optimize their recovery rates. Even a small increase in the recovery rate results in large increases to production and subsequently the revenues over the lifespan of the reservoir.

increasing recOvery rate-In the Danish sector of the north Sea, we see oil recovery rates of about 25 per cent, whereas

the norwegian sector sees up to 60 per cent. By increasing the recovery rate by just one per cent, you increase the revenues by 50 billion Danish kroner, so imagine what we can do, if we doubled the recovery rate, Jørgen Hallundbæk says, adding:

-The Danish oil reserves represent merely a thou-sandth of the global resources, so there’s a lot to be gained from enhancing recoverable.

-We emphasize creating value for the clients. When Statoil drills a new well, they get an average six times Return on Capital (ROC); however, when we help them enhance recovery from existing wells their ROC can be much, much higher, Jørgen Hallundbæk explains.

The adventure started with the Well Tractor, which revolutionized the business by enabling precise conveyance of intervention tools into horizontal and highly deviated wells. Before the introduction of the Well Tractor, it was only possible to run intervention tools on e-line as

far as gravity allowed.

Over the years, Welltec has expanded their so-lutions to address the entire lifecycle of the well, from simple conveyance to complex clean-out, milling and maintenance operations, and have recently added a well completion solution to their portfolio.

new technologies permit an operator to drain an area of 300 square kilometers by branching out the well into horizontal and deviated laterals. Each of which can be completed for more reservoir drainage and production.

-In the future it will even be possible to drain areas up to 800 square kilometers from one installation by using our completions technology to create a flexible well, Jørgen Hallundbæk says.

-This way we can protect the nature, by limiting the number of installations, without compromising hydrocarbon recovery. There are many examples of oil wells on land reaching far into the sea to drain

better economy and increased safety in oil production

Welltec is an international, oilfield service company that develops and manufactures precision-controlled technologies for interventions in oil and gas wells. Their robotic technologies are tailored to enhance recovery rates and enable operators to conduct interventions safer, faster and with higher accuracy. Over the past 20 years, the company has become a global leader within its business area.

By TInA ALTEnBURG


areas without damaging sensitive ecosystems, or at sea reaching under beaches etc. without being an eyesore to the public. Our vision for a “Flex-Well” helps to promote that approach of needing to drill fewer wells. Above all else, our equipment is about optimizing the oil production, making it as energy efficient as possible, Jørgen Hallundbæk summarizes.

feWer eMplOyeesIn addition to enhancing recovery, Welltec’s lightweight and nimble solutions often require less manpower. And fewer people equals less exposure and fewer accidents.

On a semi-submersible rig 200 people are work-ing over four shifts. The rig is supported by crew boats, and helicopters are used for transporting the staff members back and forth. All in all, a lot of costs associated with “people on board”.

-By using our technology you can reduce the number of people significantly. This then in-creases safety significantly, because there is less

coordination which could go wrong, and our fewer, lighter equipment requires less numbers of lifts, Jørgen Hallundbæk says.

precisiOns Mechanics at a high levelExpertise within precision mechanics combined with electronics make up the backbone in Welltec. Jørgen Hallundbæk explains that Denmark has strong traditions within these fields, and adds that the electronics department in Welltec works by the same standards as the European Space Agency to ensure the best quality, so all in all, production at a high quality level is maintained in Allerød.

Because of the company’s growth, Welltec has hired many new employees in the past few years, and it is expected that this trend will continue. Welltec of course welcomes these new employees and developed the Welltec Academy to ensure standards are implemented. This is a training program for all new employees, which takes place both primarily at home in Denmark, but also in norway and soon in the USA.

Welltec has more than 50 offices and bases all over the world, but as Jørgen Hallundbæk emphasizes, the Danes are not dominating; on the contrary, the company attaches great importance to the local people.

-We are local in the countries, where we operate. We want to concentrate on the technology and let that be the new element, rather than culture, language and so forth. In many countries it is also a requirement to have some local involvement in the oil production, he explains.

Welltec operates across the globe from the north Sea to the Middle East, from Australia and the Asia Pacific to Sub Sahara Africa, from Alaska through Canada, the US, Gulf of Mexico, an all the way down through Latin America.

The customer list consists of big companies such as ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell as well as smaller and medium sized operators and national oil companies like Statoil, PEMEX, Saudi Aramco, etc.


strong preparationfor coming boomBy FInn BRUUn

but it is not least the great sensitivity of the Arctic environment, which together with the operational security issue occupies the Danish

shipowners. no fast-paced growth is expected - the outlook, however, is great. Fuel is so vital a cost of shipping, that the savings potential of respectively 40 percent and 25 percent of distance by sailing northeast and northwest from Europe, is making the possibilities attractive despite the major extra polar challenges.

- It will take a few years. So far, we have seen only around 50 ships traverse the Arctic passages. And although there are plans to pass over the pole, we are still in the pioneering phase, says Jan Fritz Hansen, adding that the same moderate pace goes for activities on exploration for oil and gas in the seabed and the extraction of minerals in land, especially in Greenland where the deposits may turn out to be very significant.

Exploration for oil and gas off Greenland, has despite an estimated potential of 50 billion. barrels of oil and gas not yet yielded clear results, and ship-ping opportunities around the new found minerals do not occur before the mines and associated infrastructure and ports are in place. This makes

it possible to get the policies and rules in place beforehand, the Danish shipowners state. They would like to see IMO rules for polar voyage ap-plying to all shipping and welcome a high standard for the ships and their Arctic equipment and level of education for everyone operating under these extreme conditions.

gOOd cOOperatiOnIn general the cooperation among the Arctic countries is working well. In addition to Denmark the countries are norway, Russia, Canada and the United States. They all have great expectations for the new world opening up in the north covering as vast an area as of about 10 million square kilometers – equaling the entire European landmass or ten times as much as India - but without any established emergency.

Therefore, the requirements for rescue efforts are extraordinarily large and the same applies to environmental management - especially about in the field of oil and gas activities, which are expected to be major. Actu-ally so major that they can change the entire supply pattern in relation to the Middle East when the estimated quantities come into play: It will be

Danish shipping is quiet alert to its new Arctic opportunities as climate is slowly getting milder and thus creating alternative northern passages. But no business boom is in sight so far. No so, however, when it comes to all the preparations, that should open up the cold waters for sailing, exploration and tourism. – Here the task is so huge and the distances so large that the Arctic countries must jointly mobilize to ensure the necessary monitor-ing and preparedness, says Deputy Director of the Danish Shipowners’ Association, Jan Fritz Hansen.

tough to get the oil up, but a realistic estimate suggests that 13 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 30 percent of the gas is found below the often still thinner Arctic ice.

sensitive envirOnMentBut as attractive as the deposits may be in the eyes of the world market, just as scary is the worst-case scenarios in the event of a serious oil spill situation in the sensitive environment. Everything is harder in the frozen areas and distances to preparedness are enormous. A single large-scale accident can - in addition to the damage to nature - with a blow kill any momentum.

The importance of a changed pattern in energy supply has already ma-nifested itself in the issue of transport of gas where expectations about future northwestern transport routes from norway to the United States has now been challenged by the huge US shale gas projects making the country almost self-sufficient in gas. Instead, Asia’s interest in gas is rising, thus changing transport route from west to east passage.

The Danish Arctic ambassador, Klavs A. Holm, indicates that the require-ments of the rescue area are increasing considering that distance and weather can transform the smallest accident into marine disaster. To that end a agreement on coordination of efforts in the Arctic Council is at hand, which has been followed up by a great exercise off East Greenland, where ships, aircraft, helicopters, paratroopers and police from Arctic countries learned what a difficult task you face in the rescue area.

He emphasizes that the discussions in the Arctic Council are carried out in a passable and helpful atmosphere that you rarely experience as a nego-tiator in international forums, and mentions that Russia is a constructive partner in the work.public /private partnershipThe Danish shipping companies in their strategy for Arctic operations consider preparedness and monitoring the alpha and omega for future development: Although the countries have naval forces in the area, it is not nearly enough just to rely on the fleet to lift all the tasks of rescue and environmental monitoring.

- We will at the same time need the naval countries to cooperate with all other good forces in the areas involved. you might call it a public/private partnership, so that all ships in one way or another are involved in the monitoring service and preparedness, says Jan Fritz Hansen, who calls for at broad effort.

The Danish Shipowners’ Association are concerned, that the Arctic venture this is done in an environment of cooperation between not only the Arctic countries - norwegians, Canadians, Americans, Russians – but as much in concert with the Greenland interests.

- We believe it is most important to have input from Greenland’s officials, administrators, politicians and authorities, Jan Fritz Hansen says.



At the two oil people, who last year in no-vember were awarded as Entrepreneur of

the year – a title they will have to defend later this year in Monaco – there has never been long from idea to execution. If the Monjasa people could run a tanker shipping company they could also run ferries. The hunt was therefore set for a ro/pax ferry, which besides a car deck also had room for more than 200 people in single-bed rooms – service people etc., cinema, wellness, office facilities, conference room etc. at the wind turbine installations offshore.

the hunt fOr a ferryThe idea was straight ahead – the floating hotel and storage vessel should place itself in the middle of the wind turbine installations in a way that the service people, blacksmiths, electricians, engineers etc. got the shortest possible way to/from work and thereby saved the time as well as the money

it would take to be sailed the often four hours of sailing to/from the wind farms.

While hunting for a suitable ferry the bunker company established a subsidiary C-bed under the umbrella Monjasa Holding with headquarter in World Trade Center in the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. That it was the netherlands was next to a coincidence. The man who heads C-bed is Dutch, explains Monjasa’s Head of Shipping Michael Rix. In Italy, the Monjasa people found the right vessel for the project. It was the former Sessan ferry between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn in Denmark “Prinsessan Christina” today “Wind Solution”. The ship was sent to the then Fredericia Shipyard A/S for reconstruction and new equip-ment. nothing was to be missing, when the ship had placed itself at the wind farms.

MaritiMe authOrities in trOubleThe problems were not solved with that, Michael Rix further explains. Authorities like the Danish and the British maritime authorities should approve the vessel. It ended up in plain bureaucracy, when no one could find out how a special vessel like a floating dwelling and storage building should be approved and look like.

It was the British, who found the solution after many months of waiting. It had nearly cost C-bed the first contract. Today the shipping company C-bed’s 3 floating hotels are all registered in the British register. The company is on the contrary Dutch driven, but 100 per cent owned by Monjasa in Erritsø in Denmark.

At its first job “Wind Solution” was inserted at the establishment of the wind farm “Lynn and Inner Dowsing Wind Farm” in the flat waters off

It was the two fuel oil trading contractors Jan Jacobsen and Anders Østergaard in Erritsø – the men behind the international bunker group Monjasa, which they established in 2002 and which today employs more than 400 people worldwide, who together with Siemens Wind Power four years ago got the idea to what has now become a reality – a floating dwelling, workshop and storage building for the offshore industry.

former ferriesin new disguiseBy JEnS nøRGAARD

continueD >


Lincolnshire in the Eastern England. The vessel was from the first day a success, as the service people avoided the long sailings to the British fishery port Grimsby, which was the nearest port in the shuttle traffic.

the futureThe success at the first job was followed up by the purchase of yet another ferry. It was also a former Sessan ferry as well as a DFDS ferry “Prinsessan Birgitta” and “King of Scandinavia”, which among other things has sailed at the former triangle route Hamburg, newcastle, Esbjerg.

In December last year, C-bed took the third and so far the last vessel into use. It is the former Co-lorline ferry “Christian IV”, now “Wind Perfection”. The vessel has previously sailed at the service Hirtshals – Kristiansand. As the other hotel ves-sels “Wind Perfection” was also reconstructed at Fayard at Lindø.

“Wind Perfection” is now employed at Anholt Wind farm, where the vessel is in charter for Siemens.

Generally, the hotel and storage vessels will call a port once a month partly for having food, water and the stocks at the car decks filled up, making the supplies all the time able to fulfill the quality demands from the charters.

The shipping company C-bed employs approxi-mately 250 employees. The main part consists of the crew onboard the 3 hotel vessels, which has technically management at Transnautic Ship Management TSM in Tallinn in Estonia. Crewing will be sent out by the headquarter in the netherlands.

Just at the moment, no plans exist of purchasing other ferries, Michael Rix says. He will, however, not exclude that purchasing ro/ro vessels for the use at offshore installations at the oil fields later could be an option. In this segment, ro/pax ferries are useless because of technical installa-tions, which are not possible on a vessel, which exclusively has been used for the transportation of passengers and cars.


the Danish shipping company, Uni-Tankers, with headquarter in the small Danish town

Middelfart is well on the way to become a sig-nificant player within the segments small tank and intermediate.

One year ago, Uni-Tankers entered into an agree-ment with the other Danish shipping company Erria to take over their nine chemical tankers. It became the start of a whole new business area for Uni-Tankers, which until then primarily had focused on CPP, clean petroleum products, as well as fuel oil and fertilizers. Uni-Tankers made chartering in cooperation with some Swedish shipping companies, for example Broström in Gothenburg. While Uni-Tankers was engaged in time charters

and commercial management, the company did not have a big fleet of own vessels, when the financial crisis broke out in 2008. Uni-Tankers had contracted for four vessels, but were able to cancel the contract without any loss. So when other companies like Torm and Erria went into trouble because of the financial crisis, Uni-Tankers was able to perform quite well even though the crisis meant difficult market conditions. It also meant that Uni-Tankers had the financial muscles to take over the chemical tankers from Erria.

sMall tank Will sOOn recOverUni-Tankers now has a fleet of 36 vessels all of them up to 30,000 dwt, and it is no coincidence that the company is focusing on exactly this segment.

Many newbuildings are on the way within the VLCC segment, and one should therefore not expect a recovery in market conditions soon. The small tank and intermediate segments are on the contrary the segments with fewest newbuildings on the way, and that is why Uni-Tankers firmly believes in a recovery in this segment within a foreseeable future.

-The next two to three years we will not see a positive result, but then we think we will see a turnaround. This segment is the segment, where fewest new vessels are being built. There is balance between supply and demand, and it will therefore be the segment, which will first see a turnaround, believes Torben Andersen, CEO of Uni-Tankers.

The Danish shipping company Uni-Tankers is aiming at closing more big contracts within small tank, where the market according to Uni-Tankers will see a turnaround before the other tanker segments.

uni-tankers focus on small and intermediate

tankers

By TInA ALTEnBURG


-In our segment we witness a huge scrapping of the fleet. When the tonnage is being regulated in this way, the freight rates will increase. The market within small tank is deeply regulated, Torben Andersen explains, and while no one is underbidding the freight rates, it is on the other hand not possible to go beyond the freight rates.

-The upside is not very big, but the downside is on the other hand not very big either. That is because we can sail with many different types of cargo at the same time. We make what we call parcel sailings. When the vessel begins the sailing, perhaps one third of the vessel is filled; we then fill up accordingly in perhaps three to four ports. The important thing is not to sail without any cargo, Torben Andersen explains.

a lOgistical challengeWith the purchase of Erria’s nine chemical tankers and their company in Istanbul, Uni-Tankers had suddenly a demanding logistical task.

-Before we were eight people to handle five vessels. We are now 36 employees plus two in Istanbul and two in nice. We have got former employees from herning shipping, Torm, norden, Maersk Brokers. It has been a challenge to pass on our culture to the new people. We have also taken over Erria’s nine vessels and their crew. It has really been a serious logistical challenge, Torben Andersen explains.

-We have got the nine vessels from Erria and further three vessels from Turkish shipowners. In total we have now 17 vessels, which we own, and we have further 11 vessels on time charter and 8 vessels in commercial management.

-We now also have an office in the USA. Our sister company Dan-Bunkering has established an office in Houston, where we share meet-ing facilities, reception etc. So, all in all, our organization has witnessed a tough year with organizational challenges, new IT-systems, new everything, Torben Andersen summarizes.

the neW strategyUni-Tanker’s new strategy is to become a sig-nificant player at the market of easy chemicals.

-Our target is to close more big contracts. In the next 12-18 months we see ourselves becoming a major player at this market. At the moment, we are looking for more tonnage, we are able to invest, but much bad tonnage is for sale. If good tonnage shows up, and the price is reasonable, we will maybe invest, Torben Andersen says.

-Our mantra is quality shipping. The vessels must look good so the customers can see that our sailings are secure, he says.

Even though the outlook for the global economy is not too good, the company will not hesitate to invest, if the right tonnage shows up.

-I read recently that the global economic growth will be one per cent lower than previously expected. It also infects shipping. But based on the numbers of vessels being scrapped, I believe we will see a recovery in this segment within 12-18 months, Torben Andersen says.

synergies in the grOupUni-Tankers is owned by United Shipping and Trading Company (USTC), owned by the Danish business man Torben østergaard. USTC also has the other subsidiaries Dan-Bunkering, Shipping.dk, and Uni-Chartering.

Together the common ownership makes the companies stronger, as they are able to bid in for projects in cooperation with each other.

-Synergies exist within the Group. We cooperate for example closely with A.P. Møller-Mærsk, as they own Broström, and despite the fact that A.P. Møller-Mærsk has Maersk Brokers, we try to convince them to use Shipping.dk as agent.

-We make bids for projects together with the other companies. Take for example a drilling rig in Australia. We can transport the oil from the drilling rig, while Shipping.dk has project vessels and can transport different kinds of material for them, and Dan-Bunkering can be in charge of the bunkering, Torben Andersen explains.

While Uni-Tankers already has closed several big contracts with large oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Total, the connection to the other companies in the Group just makes Uni-Tankers stronger, when it comes to closing big contracts.

With the purchase of Erria’s nine chemical tankers and their company in Istanbul, Uni-Tankers had suddenly a demanding logistical task.


a tanker is damaged, and the waves are several metres high. The tugboat has to be very

close to the tanker so as to be able to throw a hawser, but it is not very easy in stormy weather. Looking from the tugboat the tanker seems to be just in front of us, and I think, they are going to clash with each other.

They don’t, however, and it is not at all reality, even though it feels like we are having shaky ground beneath our feet. Actually, we are in one of the full mission simulators, which Force Technology has at its disposal in Lyngby north of Copenhagen. Here every week the year round the ship’s crews train such difficult situations at sea, making the crew able to manage a difficult situation, if it suddenly emerges in reality.

Today there are no course participants in the simulator. During the week, however, people from Fjord Line have been there to train calling at the port of Hirtshals in the new cruise ferry MS Stavangerfjord. At Force Technology in Lyngby they have the possibility of training in simulators, which are very close to reality.

Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen, who is the head of the division for Maritime Industry at Force Technol-ogy, tells that the simulators in Lyngby are used for training how to handle difficult situations at sea as well as training of port calls.

pOrt callsExactly the Port of Hirtshals is difficult calling, he tells, as the wind, waves, and the currents are difficult because of the location of the port so close to the north Sea. The place of call is at the same time placed in such a way that you have to make a turn with the vessel, before you can call the port.

In another simulator we are suddenly standing onboard a tugboat in the Port of Fredericia. A tanker needs help to get out of the port. The model of the port is very close to reality in the 360 degrees full mission simulator. While we are throwing a hawser to the vessel, small clouds of smoke from the tug boat are passing by. yes, even the tiniest realistic details are well-made.

training Of nOrWegian pilOtsIt is not just Danish shipping companies, which get courses in Force Technology’s simulators. The norwegian Coastal Administration has thus chosen Force Technology to conduct courses for 350 norwegian pilots and VTS operators. The first course is already completed, and the next group of norwegians can come any minute.

Just like in the real world

The contract with the norwegian Coastal Ad-ministration is five years long, and during the five years all of the norwegian pilots and VTS operators will come to Lyngby to get training in one of Force Technology’s simulators.

MatheMatical MOdelsMore than 50 years of hydro- and aerodynamic knowledge is the basis for the simulators, and the mathematical models, which are the basis for the simulators, are very accurate.

- The whole thing is about newton’s second law, which says that the forces are equal to the masses multiplied by the accelerations. It is this law the whole thing is about in the simulators. A tug boat will for example have to place itself just beside another vessel, which can lie there, and push or pull. The model will have to be developed for a certain draught, and the current from the vessel’s propeller is influencing the tug boat. It all has to be modeled physically correct. Besides, it also has to be shown visually correct. It demands, among other things, a deep knowledge of the movements of water, Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen explains.

internatiOnally recOgnizedAdd to this Force Technology’s educational learn-ing methods, which have as its starting point the

things that the course participants have to have learned, when they leave Lyngby. The course participants really have to learn something, before they finish the course.

Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen thinks that Force Technology has proven that the learning methods are working, actually so much that also other sectors have begun using the methods.

- The same methods are used for the training of air traffic controllers. It costs two million kroner to educate an air traffic controller. The last exam takes place in a simulator, and the failure rate has previously been up to 50 per cent. It is after all much money, you waste, and you also waste people’s time. now they have begun using our methods, and the failure rate is under 10 per cent, Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen says.

A number of the big international players within the maritime industry are also on the customer list at Force Technoloyg’s department for courses in simulators.

FORCE TECHnOLOGy

By TInA ALTEnBURG


At Force Technology they every week the year round arrange courses for ship’s crews, who are going to learn how to manage difficult situations that can emerge, when for example calling a port or towing away a vessel, damaged in bad weather.

Just like in the real world


force technology- all under the same roofBy TInA ALTEnBURG

it is all closely linked. Force Technology’s Division for Maritime Industry contains the classical knowledge of aero- and hydrodynamic, which is

the basis for the development of the simulators, which together with the department for applied psychology also is part of the maritime division.

- Right now there is much focus on fuel savings, tells Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen, who is the head of the maritime division at Force Technology, regarding the business areas.

- We have a tank, where we can test, how you can reduce the fuel con-sumption either on existing vessels, that is retrofitting, or on newbuild-ings, where you can work with the design of the hull and the propeller. It will all be tested in the tank, he adds.

He clarifies that CFD (computational fluid dynamics) is a big area for Force Technology, because it can support initiatives to reduce the fuel consumption. It is among other things about having knowledge about how to minimize the vessel’s resistance, when it sails through the water. It can be done by optimizing the hull and in that way secure that the power of propulsion is as big as possible.

Besides their own tank, Force Technology also has at its disposal own wind tunnels, where you under realistic conditions can test, how the wind’s forces influence a ship’s resistance and propulsion, and last but not least Force Technology also has at its disposal simulators, where the ship’s crews can be trained in difficult situations at sea as well as in port handlings.

FORCE TECHnOLOGy


force technology- all under the same roof

- We are characterized by the fact that we have it all under the same roof. no one else has it all, Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen says.

fOcus areasThe maritime division is especially working with the areas fuel savings, reduction of emissions from ships, renewable energy such as offshore wind farms, simulators as well as applied psychology. Actually, the divi-sion has five psychologists employed, who work as consultants.

- They are specialists in observing human behavior. There is difference between, what people say they have done and what they actually have done. We know it from our courses in the simulators, where we hold debriefings. When we play a video for the course participants, they can see that they have done something else than they thought they did. All people make mistakes; the important thing is, however, that the mistakes must not influence the safety onboard a ship, Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen explains.

bridge studiesForce Technology has also worked a lot with bridges, so when talk began about a permanent connection over the Fehmern Belt, it was an obvious job for Force Technology to construct simulators in connection with the study of safety by passing under a Fehmern Belt Bridge.

- I actually have eight studies of the Fehmern Belt bridge standing, which never will come into existence. We have comprehensive experience with bridges, as we had jobs in connection with the Great Belt Bridge and the Oresund Bridge. The Fehmern Belt Bridge was different than the other two bridges, as both the Great Belt Bridge and the Oresund Bridge are east-west-turned, like most of the wind in Denmark. A Fe-hmern Belt Bridge would, however, have been north-south-turned, so the vibrations in the cables would be bigger. you can build a general overview by performing physical experiments and by calculating on it mathematically, Peter Krogsgaard Sørensen gives as an example of what Force Technology has worked with, but never has been realized.

internatiOnallyForce Technology has subsidiaries several different places in the world. In norway a subsidiary works solely with the offshore area. In Russia a department works with software development and makes models for the simulators. An office in Houston, USA, also works with offshore, and finally a centre has been established in Singapore, one the world’s biggest maritime hubs. In April 2012, Force Technology thus opened a new simulation centre in Singapore with full mission simulators, and the goal is also to have other competences in place here.

cOMMercial cOnditiOnsIf anybody should be in doubt, the maritime division works on clearly commercial conditions. Force Technology is, of course, an approved technological service institute, which is approved by the Ministry for Science and Technology and in this way it gets a certain basic fund-ing. But only 44 million kroner yearly goes to Force Technology, which therefore works on commercial conditions.

In return for the basic funding, the 110 employees in the division, consisting of maritime engineers, software developers, measuring technologists, captains and psychologists, get new knowledge and make it available for small and medium sized companies, which cannot by themselves afford to have a research and development department. Force Technology therefore do research and development by itself, and the work is described in the contract, which the institute has entered together with the Ministry for Science and Technology.

Force Technology’s division for the maritime industry is characterized by containing all maritime competences from the classical aero- and hydrodynamic knowledge to applied psychology and training in simulators.


protecting seals from hearing damage

the idea for how to mitigate offshore piling noises was generated over dinner at the Rive

restaurant in Hamburg’s Fischmarkt district. In spring 2012, Kurt Thomsen, who is the creator and founder of the world leader in installation of offshore wind turbines, A2SEA, and manag-ing director of OSK-ShipTech, Anders ørgaard Hansen, shared a bottle of wine after a long work day, while discussing new EU legislation to reduce sound emissions from the installa-tion of windmills at sea and thereby protect marine mammals.The background for the law was a number of disturbing observations in the north Sea. Seals off the coast of Helgoland had been found bleeding from the ears. And several studies indicated that high underwater noise emissions were potentially harmful to marine mammals such as harbour porpoises, harbour seals and grey seals. The sound radiating from hydraulic impact hammers driving monopiles into the

seabed during installation of offshore wind foundations measured 185-190 dB. This could damage mammals that use their hearing for orientation, communication and finding food. In order to tackle this problem, noise deterrent devices or bubble curtains were employed, but they could not reduce the noise to a maximum of 160 dB at a distance of 750 metres from the monopile as recommended the German Federal Ministry of Environment and EU legislators.- From our point of view screaming at seals to go away did not seem very professional, and bubble curtains consume a lot of energy. There had to be a better solution. That’s when we started discussing whether a cofferdam could be used for noise reduction, Anders ørgaard Hansen recalls.A few months after the memorable Fischmarkt dinner, the idea had received funding from German partners willing to invest in the vi-sionary project, and the Lo-noise partnership

Noise from offshore wind farm construction can have severe negative im-pact on marine mammals. A fact that triggered two Danes to come up with an innovative technology that solves the problem and rationalizes the con-struction process, so that the animal protection in-vestment becomes more or less cost neutral.Idea generated over din-ner

By METTE VAABEnGAARD

Visionary cofferdam tech-nology (patent pending) reduces noise from the installation of windmills at sea by up to 25 dB in a radius of 750 m.


between OSK-ShipTech and Kurt Thomsen had been formed.

pile guide and cOfferdaM cOMbined- Our idea was to construct a steel pipe which could be fitted around the monopile before both are craned into the sea. In this phase of operation, the Lo-noise steel pipe, which is positioned on three legs on the seabed, serves as a pile guide for the 500 tonnes monopile, thereby optimizing the construction process. Once the monopile has been placed, the water is pumped out of the cavity, and Lo-noise makes a cofferdam that reduces the noise of the hydraulic hammer, Anders ørgaard Hansen explains.The first monopile cofferdams were produced by nicon Industries in Frederikshavn, Denmark, and in December the new noise reduction technology was tested at sea.- In collaboration with Grundfos, Trelleborg, nICOn Industries, DBB and Rambøll and OSK-

ShipTech, we conducted a series of operational tests that demonstrated a noise reduction of 23 dB at a distance of 750 metres from the monopile. The noise emission from the Lo-noise cofferdam was 157 dB, which is well below the 160 dB limit considering that dB is a logarithmic scale.

prOMising prOspectsLo-noise has subsequently been approved by the German authorities as “Stand der Technik”, which marks an official industry state-of-the-art. And the Lo-noise’s corporate turnover rose from zero to 70 million DKK during the first fiscal year.

- We have already sold three Lo-noise cofferdams to Siemens, and we have several tenders under consideration, so the future looks promising. So far Germany is the only country to have ratified the offshore noise reduction legislation, but the remaining EU countries are expected to follow suit, and if they do the Lo-noise market will

increase drastically, says Anders ørgaard Hansen.Still, he does not see Lo-noise as a part of OSK-ShipTech in the long run.

WOrk and pleasure - OSK-ShipTech is a company of consulting naval architects and marine engineers. Our core business is ship design & construction, says Anders ørgaard Hansen.In later years, OSK-ShipTech has been part of the consultancy team behind the new Fjordline cruise ferry between Hirtshals in Denmark and Bergen in norway and the 160 cars LnG powered double-ended ferry to the Danish island Samsoe. The company also contributes to a number of infrastructure improvement projects around the world, like the establishment of a new ro-ro ferry line from north to south on Lake Victoria which will open a new export corridor from the capital of Uganda, Kampala. In between these assignments OSK-ShipTech likes to nurse their own development projects. - Most architects and engineers in OSK-ShipTech have a hobby project they like to work on, when they have got an hour to spare. It keeps us sharp and makes the working hours more fun and enjoyable. And sometimes the playful inven-tiveness leads to proper products with regular market potential, like the Lo-noise cofferdam. It shows that curiosity and creativity pays off in the end, Anders ørgaard Hansen concludes.

inventOrs behind the visiOnary lO-nOise technOlOgy :

Anders ørgaard Hansen, managing director of OSK-ShipTech. A company of consulting naval architects and marine engineers, founded in 1966. OSK-ShipTech offers consultancy assistance within ship design and construction, repair and conversion, modernization and refit, inspection and marine survey and expert witness. Kurt Thomsen was the mastermind of the crane

ship concept and the start-up of A2SEA. Since 2006 he has performed consulting services for the wind turbine industry He is the owner Advanced Offshore Solutions (AOS) and co-owner of Lo-noise and SeaRenergy that support the offshore wind industry with a full range of services covering transportation and installa-tion of components for offshore wind farms.


To ensure a pipeline of new shipping employees and hopefully future talents, it is important for nORDEn constantly to be able to attract the most talented young people for the 2-year Shipping Trainee education qualifying for a job as charterer or operator. nORDEn in Denmark has therefore launched a new Shipping Trainee campaign appealing even more to young people.- Former campaigns matched their time. But their narrative and level of detail would probably not appeal to today’s young people causing them to zap away before reaching the “Ap-ply” button. Today’s young people are used to communication with lots of pictures pulling on

emotions with many shifts and with short and precise information. Hopefully, this new Ship-ping Trainee campaign reflects this - not least with a film about the education, says head of HR Vibeke Schneidermann.In recent years, nORDEn has hired about 10 new Shipping Trainees annually. Most of them work at the head office in Hellerup, while the others are at the offices in China, Singapore and the USA. Under expert guidance from personal mentors, they all work on equal footing with trained and experienced colleagues. After a long day at the office with independent tasks and personal responsibility, the Danish trainees are studying business administration at night

in order to strengthen the theoretical side of their education.

target grOup: yOung peOple With passiOnThe target group is young people with pas-sion for international trade, ambitions, great professional proficiency, a can-do-spirit and a sense of humour.With this campaign, nORDEn not only wants to attract the most talented young people. The intention is also to determinedly break down prejudice and gender barriers within shipping which is no longer to be seen as a male profession.

shipping trainee

- campaign with a new look

NORDEN wishes to attract the most talented young people for its 2-year Shipping Trainee education. The Company has therefore launched a new campaign in Denmark reaching the target group by approaching young people in ways that are familiar to them from other media. That is with lots of pictures pulling on emotions, many shifts and short and precise information.

/ Page 22 Daily news on www.maritimedanmark.dkdanish MaritiMe magazine

danish MaritiMe magazine

- The new Shipping Trainee campaign is naturally very visible online and on Facebook. This is where young people get most of their information and knowledge by and large, also when it comes to educational op-portunities”, says Vibeke Schneidermann.On Facebook, Shipping Trainee Morten Vesth, who works at the head office in Hellerup, and Assistant Operations Manager Anne-Sophie Tinsfeldt from the Singapore office (graduated this summer) will write frequent status updates as inspiration for future trainees.

alsO appealing tO WOMenIs it difficult to attract the most talented young people?- Both yes and no. It definitely takes a persistent effort from both nOR-DEn and the shipping business in general. It is necessary to always point out the future opportunities which The Blue Denmark can offer. We therefore spend a lot of resources on making campaigns”, says Vibeke Schneidermann.Are there enough women among the applicants for nORDEn’s Shipping Trainee positions?- I guess shipping has the reputation of being a male profession where only men can manage and make a career. We would very much like to see more shipping women at nORDEn, and I hope that this new Shipping Trainee campaign is appealing to women. We also need their talents. At nORDEn, we only have a few female charterers, but some female operators. All of them are at least as capable as their male colleagues”, adds Vibeke Schneidermann.

Source: Norden News Winter 2012

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g unard Cruise Line’s cruise vessel Queen Victoria attracts justified attention eve-

rywhere, where it arrives. not just because of its impressive size, but also because of the vessel’s slim lines, which distinguishes it from other modern cruise vessels.

The captain at the bridge is just as unusual as rest of the ship. Faroese Inger Klein Olsen has since December 2010 been captain at Queen Victoria – the first female captain in Cunard Line’s 170-year-old history.

-The interest has been enormous, also greater than I had expected. But I have been extremely positively welcomed by everyone, Inger Klein Olsen says.

Inger Olsen has worked hard to get the many gold strings at the sleeve. She has sailed for almost 30 years, and she has tried almost all jobs, which can be found onboard a ship, except those that demands that you walk around with an oil can

in the back pocket. When she was appointed captain in 2010, the shipping company’s managing director, Peter Shranks, emphasized that even though it was remarkable that a shipping company as Cunard Line rich in traditions chose to appoint a female captain, no one should think that the shipping company did compromise with anything. -As Mark Twain once said, Cunard would not dream about making even noah a captain, unless he first had made his way up through the ranks. And this is what Inger Olsen has done, Peter Shranks said.

Inger Olsen is of course proud of and happy for her job, she is, however, also humble towards the task.

-I had beforehand expected that the crew perhaps were a little bit reserved, when they suddenly got a female captain. But I have to say that I have been very positively surprised by the support and backing I have got. Also from the other

captains, Inger Olsen says. -When we call a port, the pilots can sometimes look a bit as if searching around, even though I stand right in front of them, Inger Olsen tells with a big smile.

-Then they come and ask: Where is the captain? When I then say that I am the captain – they often have to collect their thoughts before we can begin.

-At one of the first trips, where I was onboard as a captain, we had a pilot onboard so as to call at Acapulco, and he could not stop laughing, when he realized that I was the captain. He still laughed when we came alongside the quay.

bOrn at the farOe islandsInger Klein Olsen was born at the Faroe Islands, where she grew up in Vestmanna. The father was a marine engineer, and both grand parents had sailed. Despite this fact, however, it is not traditional in the family to sail.

45-year-old Inger Klein Olsen is one of only three women in the world, who are captain at one of the big cruise vessels. Half of the year she is commanding officer for the nearly 1,000 employees at Cunard Line’s impressing cruise vessel Queen Victoria. Rest of the time she is a newly married wife at home in the Danish town Tåsinge.

captainat the bridge

By MARTIn UHLEnFELDT


-When you, as I did, grow up at the Faroe Islands, you have never been a long way from the ocean. It was also there that we children played much of the time. So yes, I have probably sea water in the blood in some way or the other, the always smiling captain says.

She left the school, when she was 16 years old and got her first job at sea. It was as a steward onboard the freight ferry Blikur, which sailed for Faroe Ship.

-I liked that way of travelling, but I didn’t like cleaning. So after a while, I applied at DFDS, Olsen tells. In 1989, she moved to Copenhagen and began as a trainee at DFDS. She went at Kogtved Sea Training School and later Svendborg navigation School. In 1994, she finished her education. -After that I spent some years at DFDS sailing at the freight vessels in the north Sea. Back and forth, back and forth. Then I didn’t have the energy needed anymore, Olsen tells.

-When we were in Copenhagen, I often looked at the beautiful cruise vessels and thought, I would like trying to sail one of those. I wanted to go on – out seeing something. So I finally sent 18 applications to different cruise ship-ping companies – and Cunard was the first to answer. -I went for a job interview at the legendary commodore Warwick. Afterwards I sat wai-ting for 10 minutes, and then they came and asked: When can you start. I applied for leave of absence at DFDS in a year’s time. And after that year, I thought – no, I want to continue a bit more. And then I hung on.

first cunard JOb in 1997The first job after the hiring at Cunard in 1997 was as second officer onboard Vistafjord Caro-nia. In 2001, she was transferred to the at that time subsidiary shipping company, Seabourne. Here she sailed with Seabourn Sun and Se-abourn Spirit, until she advanced to staff captain at Seabourn Pride in 2003. Afterwards a quick

sequence of several cruise vessels belonging to Cunard’s different subsidiaries followed.

In August 2010, Inger Klein Olsen returned to Cunard Line, this time as second in command at Queen Victoria. On the 1 December then followed the appointment as captain at Queen Victoria. -It has never been my ambition to become a captain. I have just thought that it would be nice to sail around, see what I wanted to see – then I would quit sailing and do something else. But it didn’t go this way, Inger Olsen says smiling. Today she is head of a crew consisting of nearly 1,000 people, put together of people from about fifty countries, and she is in charge of a vessel, whose value is at least a few billions Danish kroner. -The thing I like the most at my work is when we have finished a cruise and have scored really high in the satisfaction survey. When I read all the comments about how kind and nice the crew is, and how well the guests feel themselves treated. Then I know that we all have done the best that we could. It is a good feeling.


-I spent a lot of time walking around talking to the passengers and the crew. I think it is nice. you meet quite many interesting people. I like that. you probably have to be rather outgoing to have this job, Inger Olsen says.

-But I should think I spend 60-70 per cent of my working time at the bridge. Keeping an eye on the traffic around the ship, making sure that it holds the correct speed so as to arrive at the next destination in due time. Then there are port calls to plan and approve, and all those things. The one and the other.

Does the crew notice that they have a female captain?

-Perhaps they think that I am more considerate, because I am a woman. That I am more focused on the crew feeling well, Inger Olsen says. Kept her maiden name

Actually, her name is not Inger Olsen anymore. Last summer, she was married to the love of

her life, Claus Thorhauge – so today her name is Inger Thorhauge. But nobody knows that name. Therefore she has kept her old maiden name, when she is at sea. Her husband travels with her, as often as it is possible.

-It sets some limitations, when you are away as much as I am. It is of course a challenge for my husband. He works in the defense, in the air force. Is there a difference between that Inger, who is captain, and that Inger, who is a wife at home in Tåsinge?

-no, I don’t think so. There is, however, a big difference between those two roles. Here at the ship I have the responsibility for quite many people. At home I only have the responsibility for myself. There I can have a break and just be me. Usually, Inger Olsen is out sailing a couple of months or three, and then at home in Tåsinge a couple of months. She likes playing the saxophone and spends part of her spare time practicing. And then she takes exercises. She is not good doing

that when she is out sailing. But after a couple of months at home, she yearns to leave again.

-I really like sailing with Queen Victoria. It is a lovely ship. And the first ship, at which you are the captain, will always be something special. So I am really satisfied. Cunard has, however, a ship that is even bigger, Inger Olsen says – with yet one of her many smiles.

facts abOut Queen victOriaOwner: Carnival CorporationOperator: Cunard LineHome port: Hamilton, BermudaPrice: 270 million poundsMaiden voyage: 11 December 2007

Maximum speed: 23.7 knotsGross tonnage: 90,000 GRTMaximum number of guests: 2014Crew members: 980Length: 294 mWidth: 32 mDraught: 8 mHeight: 62.5 mDecks: 16Engine: 63 . 4 MW Su l z e r ZA40 Diesel plantPropulsion: T016.7 MW ABB Azipods

facts abOut cunard lineCunard Line is the only passenger shipping company, which today offers several annual crossings between Europe and the USA. Besides that the shipping company also offers a large number of normal cruises.

The shipping company today has at its disposal three cruise vessels:· Queen Mary 2· Queen Elizabeth· Queen Victoria


,,Here at the ship I have the responsibility for quite many people. At home I only have the responsibility for myself.” Head Office

egetæpper a/s • Industrivej Nord 25 • DK-7400 HerningTel. +45 97 11 88 11 • Fax: +45 97 11 95 80 • E-mail: [email protected]

www.egecarpets.com

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