Sølvtrans wellboat tycoon hands the tiller to his son
Roger Halsebakk, who owns wellboat giant Sølvtrans, has handed over the helm of the company to his son, Robin.
The Ålesund-based company was founded by Roger Halsebakk and three others in 1986, and Halsebakk bought his partners out in the early 1990s. He continued on his own and had the company’s first new-build vessel constructed as the Aas Mekaniske shipyard.
Sølvtrans now has 24 boats, including the world’s biggest operational wellboat, the Ronja Storm, and more are on order. They operate in Norway, Scotland, Iceland, Chile, and Tasmania.
‘He has proven worthy’
“The time has now come for Robin Halsebakk to take over as chief executive of the company, and he gets the job because he has proven worthy to do the job that is needed,” said Roger Halsebakk.
“Through his years of work in various disciplines, he has proven that he can really take this company further, where the requirements for understanding general operations, technical knowledge, innovation, fish welfare and biosafety will continue to be at the forefront of the company’s operations.”
He added: “Of course I will not withdraw from Sølvtrans. Sølvtrans is still the largest investment for Ronja Capital II, but I will move to the role of chairman instead.
“In addition, I will spend more time on our investments made within our investment company Ronja Capital II.”
Degrees and experience
Robin Halsebakk has a degree in economics and administration from Trondheim School of Economics and a master’s degree in finance from the Norwegian School of Management in Bergen.
Halsebakk realised early on that if he was to work in the family business, he would have to get thoroughly acquainted with the wellboat industry and understand how the market works. Therefore, he enlisted as a sailor, during school holidays, on several of the company’s wellboats in the period 2011-2015. In this way he gained an in-depth knowledge of how a wellboat operates.
He later became a business developer / trainee in the period 2015-2016, then worked as a logistics manager in the company from 2016-18 and marketing manager from 2018-2019.
In 2019, he became operations manager / deputy managing director in the company, a position he has held until now.
A world leader
“I am proud to continue what Roger has built stone upon stone for almost 35 years,” said Robin Halsebakk. “Sølvtrans is a world leader in the transport of live fish, and we will continue to be so. I look forward to taking this well-run company further in the direction that Roger Halsebakk has been in leading us for decades.
“Over time, we have built an incredibly good team both on land and at sea, which together will take this team forward with the culture that is well established in the organisation. We as a company always put fish health and biosafety first when we carry out our operations. In addition, we contribute to significant innovation and local value creation through our business. We will continue with this through our very ambitious newbuild programme, where 20 new wellboats will be built by the end of 2025.
“There are many families who are associated with the company either through being employees, suppliers, workers at the shipyards, our customers etc. This is a social responsibility we take very seriously, and I look forward to leading this company forward.”
