“Celebrating these anniversaries at Odfjell is the most enjoyable thing I do: We get together not only to honor long-serving employees but also the friends we've made over the years,” Harald Fotland said in his welcoming speech, and continued:
“With more than 25 years of experience, 40 years in Erik's case, it's clear that you want the best for Odfjell and that the advice you give is wise and well-thought-out.”
Chair Laurence W. Odfjell echoed Fotland’s greeting when he highlighted the value and importance of experience, and encouraged the awardees to share their expertise with the younger generations. Laurence presented the individual awards with a personal message for each recipient, as well as a brief history of their career at Odfjell.
Awardees
Erik Ørn Dreyer, Senior Ship Broker – 40 years
Erik started as a telex operator in 1983, before moving on to become a trainee and later broker in the eastern department. He was later stationed in Houston, where he worked as a broker for about two years before returning to Bergen. He then worked on the South America desk before joining the Transatlantic desk in 1990, where he spent the next six years. Since 1996, he has been part of the Middle East desk where he held the position of Tradelane Manager and later Senior Ship Broker.
Jan Ottemo, Senior Security Administrator – 25 years
Jan started working as a system consultant in 1996. He went on to serve as an ICT Security Administrator before being promoted to Senior Security Administrator. In other words, Jan holds significant IT security expertise in Odfjell, helping to protect the company from a wide range of cyber-attacks.
Grete Rambech, Coordinator US-SAM – 25 years
After five months as a temporary employee at Odfjell Tankers' reception, Grete formally joined Odfjell in 1998. She began her career as a marine accountant and has since held a variety of positions within the organization, including MSG, Insurance, and Legal, before landing her current position as a coordinator for the US/South America team at Odfjell Tankers.
Elin Schmidt, Controller Accounting – 25 years
Elin began her Odfjell career as a Switchboard Operator in 1998. She has held a number of accounting positions since then, including Marine accountant, Coordinator, Accountants account, and Senior Accountant Opex. As Controller Accounting, she is the accounting department's point of contact with Odfjell’s 'offshored accounting' colleagues.
Eyvind A. Bremseth, Senior Advisor – 25 years
When new opportunities arise, Eyvind is not afraid to jump into new professional fields. He has held 15 different positions since he started in Odfjell as 3rd Officer in 1998, including Chief Officer, Site Manager, Cargo Handling Officer, Newbuilding Surveyor & Inspector, Port Captain, Manager Cargo & Port Operations, VP Risk Management and Senior Advisor HSSEQ.
Tore Vågenes, Manager BET Team – 25 years
In 1998, Tore began his career in Odfjell as a Ship operator. Since then, he has held a variety of positions, including Operation Manager, Manager/Senior ERP Systems, Senior Advisor ERP, Senior Ship Operator, and the current role as Manager BET Team.
Helge Hammer, Senior Application Support Consultant – 25 years
Helge started his Odfjell career in 1998. Working with IT for 25 years, he has taken IT in Odfjell from microcomputers in the basement to the Cloud. Before becoming a Senior Application Support Consultant, he held the positions as System Consultant, ICT System Consultant, Senior Support Consultant, and Application Support Consultant.
Christine Egge, Senior Ship Operator – 25 years
Christine began her career at Odfjell as an Operator Trainee and became a Ship Operator in 1999. She's handled cargo from South America, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific. In 2004-2005, she also worked in the bunkers department. Today, she serves as Senior Ship Operator on the Asia Pacific team.
Harald Helness, Senior Architect Infrastructure – 25 years
Harald started as a Group Manager in 1997. In his current role as Senior Architect Infrastructure, he has been responsible for designing and developing a stable and secure IT infrastructure in Odfjell, both for the headquarters as well as field offices and ships, and more recently also in the cloud.
Arve Matland, HSE Manager – 25 years
Arve started as a Trainee on board and worked his way up to become a Chief Officer. He transitioned to a Marine Superintendent Trainee role in 2008 and became a Senior Marine Superintendent in 2014. He then held the position of Teamleader Superintendency, followed by a Senior Marine Superintendent role. Arve is now HSE Manager.
Arild Viste, VP Transatlantic/South America – 25 years
Arild started as a Commercial Manager, Chemical Tankers of America/Houston back in 1997, before becoming a Senior Ship Broker and later a Tradelane Manager. Since 2005, he has held various VP roles, including VP of Chartering Transatlantic & Logistics, Chartering Americas, Commercial Development, Marketing, and now Transatlantic/South America.
Stein Henriksen, Senior Ship Broker – 25 years
Stein started as a Ship Operator in Odfjell 1996, after seven years of working in Jo Tankers A.S. He later transitioned to a Ship Broker role and has since 2008 held the position as a Senior Ship Broker, today at the Transatlantic/South America team.
Unni Monsvold Mjelde, Senior Ship Operator – 25 years
Unni started as a Marine Accountant in 1995. She then became an Operator Trainee for six months before transitioning to a Ship Operator role which she held for six years. She later worked as an Operation Manager and served in this role for more than three years before becoming a Senior Ship Operator in 2006.
Jan Harald Otterskred, Senior Cargo Handling Advisor; Supercargo – 25 years
Jan Harald started as a 2nd Officer on board in 1990. He worked his way up to Chief Officer and Captain. In 2007, he transitioned to a shore-based role as Marine Superintendent, where he served for two years before taking on the position of Port Captain in Shanghai. He then went on to serve as Port Captain in Ulsan and later in Singapore for a total of ten years. He returned to Bergen as Senior Cargo Handling Advisor-Supercargo in 2022.
“In a modern work environment characterized by frequent employment changes, the fact that we are celebrating 14 anniversaries is quite exceptional, and as an employer, we are fortunate to have so many skilled and loyal employees. Getting to commemorate such anniversaries is a wonderful tradition that fosters pride and additional motivation.”
Bjørn Hammer, Chief Commercial Officer
