Odfjell Quarterly October 2012

PortraitODFJELL QUARTERLY magazineFrom sea to shoreBy Margrethe Gudbrandsen, Communication Manager, Bergen22Having accomplished a career spendingalmost 25 years at sea, in 1994, Tor K.Johansen decided to ‘go ashore’. Since then,he has had several positions within ShipManagement and in 2011 he became VicePresident Fleet Management - Singapore.Following his three year period as Master ofthe old Bow Spring, Tor K. Johansen joinedthe shore based QA section, working mainlywith implementation of the Safety and QualitySystems on the Odfjell vessels. He thenprogressed further to become the MaritimeManager in Ship Management Departmentfor ten years before going to Singapore andbecoming Fleet Manager Fleet Asia.You have had a long and interesting careerboth at sea and on shore, what is the majordifference between the two? - There are severalsimilarities between ship and shore basedship management, but there are also manydifferences. One major difference is the shorter‘command’ lines. The shipboard organisation issignificantly smaller which makes it somewhatfaster to make decisions and put into effectagreed actions. This of course requires amanagement on board that works well togetheras a team, he says.to establish a common office culture in suchan environment. My main priority here inSingapore, both as Fleet Manager and ManagerOverseas Offices is to ensure that our activitieshandled by this office are well taken care of.In order to do so, I am of course dependenton the human resources we have here, and Ineed to make sure that they are well taken careof. To maintain the common office culture wehave established in Singapore, which I alsobelieve is an Odfjell culture, we must strive tocontinue to employ staff from various culturalbackgrounds.The chefOne of the advantages of going ashore musthave been the possibility to have unlimitedaccess to a kitchen: - One of my greatest‘hobbies’ is a ‘wannabe cook’! I try to use theopportunities that we have here in Singapore tobroaden my horizon within ‘the art of cooking’.Apart from that I like to spend time at homeenjoying a good book or just going for a walkalong the River in the weekends to switch offand wind down, he ends.Tor K. JohansenThe teambuilderEven though the aspects of working as a Masteron board and the various positions ashore differin many ways, there is one experience andskill in particular that is important for bothareas: - Any organisation or entity needs towork together as a team in order to reach itsobjectives. Having the ability to build up teamspirit and co-operation across lines is the keyto success. To have a common understandingof our goals across the organisation, and tocommunicate this in an appropriate manneris something that I aim for.International cultureLearning from his international experience hebelieves in building a common office culture:-In Singapore we may have an advantage aswe are working in more of an internationalenvironment than other locations. We havea multicultural organisation which I stronglybelieve we benefit from, as it is much easierThe Singapore River - a place for mind restingwww.odfjell.com