Odfjell executive Bjorn Kristian Roed has been lured away from the tanker company to start a new challenge at Havfram.
The Oslo-listed owner’s vice president of corporate analysis and investor relations will become chief financial officer of the Norwegian offshore vessel owner from 1 November.
“After a lot of consideration, I reached a conclusion to resign from my position in Odfjell this summer,” Roed said in an email to contacts.
“It’s been five great years where I’m proud to have contributed to a team succeeding on so many areas that can be seen both internally and externally. I will have my last day in Odfjell 31 October,” he added.
Roed will help Havfram, owned by energy transition fund Hitecvision, pivot more fully from oil and gas to offshore wind shipping.
The company consists of three subsidiaries involved in subsea construction, offshore wind installation and project development for offshore wind parks.
The new recruit said the plan is to build these into three stronger stand-alone entities in the future.
“It would take something special to lure me away from Odfjell, and based on the tasks ahead, I’m confident I’ve found it in Havfram,” he added.
This has been a year of personnel changes at Odfjell.
In May, the chemical tanker specialist promoted chief operating officer Harald Fotland to become its new boss, replacing Kristian Morch.
Big investment coming
Morch wanted to return to his native Denmark, where he eventually emerged as the new chief executive of shipowner J Laurtizen in June.
Earlier this year, Havfram brought in institutional investors advised by JP Morgan Global Alternatives to sign a joint letter of intent at CIMC Raffles Offshore Engineering in China for a series of next-generation wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs).
The ships will be operational during 2024.
Havfram is saying only that it has put pen to paper on “several” WTIVs.
Based on other prices for this kind of ship, three vessels could be pushing towards $1bn in terms of price.
“The plan is to operate several vessels in the global offshore wind market, with both traditional jack-ups for turbine installation, as well as a cost-effective feeder-solution for the US market in particular,” Havfram said.
Havfram had signalled in October 2021 that it was moving into the wind business from its traditional oil and gas support sector.
The company changed its name from Ocean Installer last year.
The new vessel type will install turbines weighing up to 1,000 tonnes at a height of 150 metres.
The units will also be prepared to run on zero-emission fuel.
The group has been operating two chartered offshore construction vessels owned by Eidesvik Offshore and Solstad Offshore.
