Roger Halsebakk, Chairman Sølvtrans
The entrepreneur’s narrative of building the world’s largest wellboat company from zero to becoming a world leader in the field
Roger Halsebakk has since 1986 created the world’s largest wellboat company, Sølvtrans. The company currently consists of more than 450 employees and 31 wellboats.
Halsebakk grew up on Sandsøya in Møre og Romsdal and went out to sea at the age of 15 after completing secondary school. His father, two partners, and Roger took over their first wellboat Sølvtrans in 1986. In 91, the partners sold out of the company, while Roger and his father ran the company together for three more years before Roger took over.
Roger was for many years captain and machinist before the business grew so big that he was unable to do everything alone. Sølvtrans, which had previously operated converted freighters, received its first purpose-built wellboat in 1996. The company has long been an early adopter of technological innovations and was an early adopter of closed-system transport as a result of the 1998 ISA crisis in Scotland.
Today after the acquisition and merger with DESS, the company will have as many as 31 wellboats in operation in an industry that is highly in demand and technological innovators.