1. Hi Eirik! Tell us about the start of your career at GM, how did it come about?
I was a graduate engineer fresh out of University with a master’s in technology. I had just moved to London with my girlfriend (now wife) to try my luck in a new country. I was lucky enough to get job at the GM London office as an Engineering Analyst.
After a few years of that, I then tried my hand as MWS Project Engineer, before moving to our Abu Dhabi Office. While the London office was relatively large, the Abu Dhabi office was at the time very small, which meant that suddenly, I got involved in much more of the business and we were all filling more than one role. I enjoyed this increased exposure and variety and while my focus has always been Offshore Engineering and MWS, I feel I have very solid understanding of the other disciplines we cover and what it is that makes Global Maritime tick.
2. How has the industry developed throughout your career at GM?
In many ways the industry has not changed. Many of the installation vessels are still older than me, and they are still operating. The biggest change is that they are now installing wind farm facilities instead of oil and gas. However, our focus remains the same: help clients apply the best solutions while maintaining low risk.
3. What is the structure of the Abu Dhabi team?
We are a team of 13 technical and 6 support staff, along with a large pool of trusted independent sub-contractors. The Abu Dhabi team has a wide range of expertise in house. From master mariners, marine technical, structural engineers, and naval architects. We are the largest office in the Middle East supporting both external clients as well as other GM offices in the region. Our main activities are Marine Assurance, DP Technical Services, MWS, and Jack Up Services.
4. What has been your favorite project you have been involved in at GM?
I always enjoyed the projects where I got to travel, particularly those where I was doing the document reviews, attending HAZIDs, navigated progress meetings, and argued our review and survey findings with clients. I’ve always loved travel and its satisfying to be on site to finalize the approval process and to see the operation being carried out successfully.
5. How did 2021 fare for the team?
Our Jack Up Rig team has really come into their own over the last years with 2021 having been a particularly strong year where we have steadily taken on new clients and taken our relationships with existing clients to new levers. We have built strong relationships with both local and international rig operators and owners offering LPAs, SSAs, MWS rig move attendance and hands on rig moving. We have also been supplying a wide range of Marine services to the various ADNOC entities and we feel this is a relationship that will continue to grow. Our team has earned ADNOCS trust, and we have also built up a pool of independent sub-contractors that is now regularly serving on board as Marine Representatives on vessels operating in ADNOC fields.
6. How is 2022 looking for the team?
Offshore projects and activities are ramping up as COVID travel restrictions are easing, which means there is a very positive outlook at the moment. This is particularly true for The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where 2022 is set to be the year we build our operations in Kingdom with permanent personnel on the ground. We have built our client base in the Kingdom steadily over the years and it is now a natural progression to establish a permanent presence there with our DP Services acting as a spearhead so to speak with their very excellent approach to services such as DP Annual trials, technical problem solving and competence assessments.
7. What do you enjoy most about working at GM?
The variety of projects I get to work on and the very talented people I work with.
8. How do you spend time outside of work?
Outside of work I like spending time with family and friends. I took up triathlon some years ago, so I also spend some time trying to keep in shape and train for races.
9. What has been your greatest achievement at GM so far?
After all these years it’s impossible to zone in on one achievement alone. However, I still remember my very first project back when I first started fondly. I learned MOSES and did some research on anti-roll tank dynamics modelling and I came up with a method for using MOSES and Mathcad together to design and analyze possible solutions for retrofitting an anti-roll tank to a pipelayer. I thought that went very well as my very first project in my career, and I’m always very excited when I can bring that level of problem solving to a project.
