From Start-up to Cadeler

I was part of the original two-person start-up team behind the company that later became Cadeler.

We wanted to change offshore wind.

Our ambition was to make offshore wind more competitive and less dependent on public support.

The idea was to develop a new generation of purpose-built wind turbine installation vessels, so offshore wind turbines could be installed faster and more efficiently.

It was a very big idea for a very small team.

Seeing what might come next

When we started, there was only one purpose-built vessel for offshore wind installation.

Otherwise, the industry was largely using whatever vessels were available and trying to make them work for offshore wind.

But turbines were getting bigger. Offshore wind farms were moving further out to sea. And we believed this was going to become a very different industry.

We could see that new vessels would be needed.

So rather than building for the market as it looked then, we decided to build for the market we believed was coming.

That took courage.

The investments were enormous and there were no guarantees that offshore wind would develop as we believed it would.

But we believed in it.

And we acted on it.

And then we had to make it happen

It was hard. Really hard.

We were a tiny team with an enormous idea. We had to convince customers, investors and some very experienced people in the industry that what we wanted to do could actually work.

There were plenty of moments when success was far from certain.

But we kept going.

And we did it.

We built the vessels. We saw them go to work. And the idea that had once existed mainly in our heads became a real international offshore wind business.

I am still incredibly proud of that.

Three years became seven

I was there from the beginning as an investor, partner and executive.

Blue Ocean Ships was later acquired by Swire Pacific Offshore.

As part of the sale, I committed to staying with the company for three years.

I stayed much longer.

In total, I spent seven years with the company and served for six years on the Board of Directors.

Blue Ocean Ships became Swire Blue Ocean and, after my time, later became Cadeler.

Cadeler was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2020 and has since grown into one of the world's leading offshore wind installation companies.

I am very proud to have been part of the beginning of that journey.

Entrepreneurship with impact

This project brought together many of the things I love.

Entrepreneurship. Starting with an idea. Trying something that has not been done before.

But also the possibility of making an impact on a much larger scale.

We were not trying to make a slightly better version of something that already existed.

We wanted to help change an industry.

Years later, I could stand and watch Pacific Osprey installing offshore wind turbines.

Something we had imagined had become real.

I think that feeling is one of the reasons I still love entrepreneurship.

Pacific Osprey at work

A little history from the time

The project attracted quite a lot of attention in the Danish and international press.

In 2014, Børsen wrote about the people behind the project under the headline:

“Tunge drenge og en stærk pige betød alt.”

Børsen, 2014

I still rather like that headline.

It reminds me of a very special time in my life, and of what a small team with a very big idea can sometimes achieve.

Børsen: Tunge drenge og en stærk pige betød alt

Riviera Maritime Media: Swire Pacific Offshore acquires Blue Ocean Ships

South China Morning Post: Swire sails into offshore wind farm market

Looking ahead

That experience still shapes the way I work in a boardroom today.

Good board work is of course about governance, strategy, performance and asking the right questions.

But boards also need to look ahead.

Companies are making decisions today that will determine where they are five or ten years from now.

I believe one of the things I can contribute is an ability to look beyond the business as it is today and think about what may be coming next.

What is changing around us?

What will customers, industries and society need in the future?

And what should the company start doing today to be ready for it?

The green transition makes those questions particularly important.

Shipping, energy and industry are changing rapidly. New technologies, new regulation and new expectations will create opportunities, but they will also challenge existing business models.

I cannot predict the future.

But I have experience of seeing an important change early, understanding what it could mean, and helping turn that insight into something real.

That is an experience I bring with me to the boards I serve on today.