Torger Trige joined Odfjell in 1999 as a seafarer. Seven years later, he joined the shore organization and has since held various positions within Odfjell Tankers, as Cargo Handling Advisor, Port Captain and Project Moneyball Project Manager. In 2017, he returned to the Ship Management side of the organization, as the Vice President for the Maritime Personnel Section (MPS) and Manager Overseas Office (MOO) in Manila and has since been in-charge of more than 70 office personnel and more than 1600 seafarers.
Can you share with us your Odfjell story?
I started as a seafarer in Odfjell in early 1999 after some years of sailing with other operators. I sailed on the old Polish class vessels and later on Kværner vessels. In late 2006 I was fortunate enough to be offered to join Odfjell Tankers for a seemingly more shore-based job, hence I left the crew pool to join the Marine Service Group (MSG) as Cargo Handling Advisor/Supercargo. I was totally wrong to think that this was going to be mostly a shore-based job. I traveled a lot more onboard vessels than I ever did as a seafarer!
In those days we had severe tank cleaning challenges, particularly with the K-SEC class and the P&F class. The challenges originated from the trading pattern of these vessels in combination with their coated cargo tanks and some, let’s say, interesting construction features of these ships. We have numerous sailors in our crew pool who probably remember these endless tank cleaning operations on the old coated fleet. Other parts of the job included advising Operations and Chartering about carriage requirements for cargoes, updating the Commodity Book, periodical inspection of time-chartered tonnage, and support to the vessels on cargo handling issues and challenges, by e-mail and phone.
In early 2009, there were some indications that an opening for the Port Captain/General Manager position for Odfjell Netherlands BV would arise. I flagged my interest for this job and when it was finally posted, I applied. Again, I was fortunate to be offered another challenge by the company. Odfjell Netherlands was the local Odfjell Tankers office supplying our ships with traditional agency services, Port Captain services, transshipment services and port operations such as rotation planning, berth booking, petty equipment supply, and so on.
I was leading an office with 12-13 Odfjell employees in the period I was there. I had spent almost seven years in the Netherlands when it was decided to close the office as a result of Project Felix. In close cooperation with the Odfjell headquarters in Bergen, I worked hard to find the best alternative for closing the office. It was quite a complex task involving many risk factors, but the closedown was successful in the sense that significant monetary savings for Odfjell was achieved while still managing to secure continued employment at Euro Nordic for the colleagues that were made redundant.
After the closure of Odfjell Netherlands, I was again in need of another challenge. Project Felix was followed by Project Moneyball and I was offered the position of Project Manager in Bergen.
Project Moneyball was an exciting project where we turned a lot of stones to identify improvement initiatives on our port operations performance. Our ships spend a lot of time in port and Project Moneyball targeted to create complete transparency on what this time is used for, where time is lost, and suggest actions to maximize our use of the available time. Many initiatives were implemented upon completion of the project, and are still contributing to successful port operations.
While Project Moneyball was still ongoing, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2016, there was a change within several management functions in Odfjell Ship Management. Every change, and I mean every change, creates opportunities. Hence, when I learned that there would be an opening in Manila for the VP Maritime Personnel/Manager Overseas Office position, I flagged my interest for it. It was a relatively long process with many interviews and discussions before I was offered the position. My starting date was set for March 1st, 2017, but while visiting Manila for familiarization early January, I was ordered to start my new job with immediate effect. Since then, there has not been a dull moment.
The combination of exciting tasks and projects, and being surrounded by great colleagues in Manila is very rewarding. The Odfjell office in Manila is the second largest office within Odfjell. It’s a great honor to be trusted with the position I have and a great privilege to work with the fantastic team in Manila.
What do you consider to be the highlights of your career?
All my positions in Odfjell have been fun, challenging, and provided me with constant learning. There are so many great people in this company who have shared their knowledge over the years, giving me the chance to learn something new every day. Although over time there have been many highlights, I am not so keen on looking back on that. Your best is always to come. I believe that focus on the company targets and our strategy will bring highlights to us all. Never mind where you are in the Odfjell organization. Everyone plays their own crucial role.
A highlight for me is like passing a milestone. When it is passed, it fades out and becomes a faint memory. We can enjoy it on the same day it is achieved, but then next morning, there is the next step, the next focus area, the next success criteria waiting to be faced. That is my inner drive, not highlights from the past.
As VP Maritime Personnel, what will be your highest priorities in the near future?
My number one priority is the safety of our seafarers. That is a no-brainer when you head the Maritime Personnel Section.
Other priorities that are high on my agenda are:
How do you see the Odfjell crew pool in the next five years?
Our crew pool is robust and ready for the future. The average age has been dropping the last couple of years, adding to our redundancy. Advance planning of the crew pool largely rotates around factors like future demand – i.e., number of own ships, expected retirement, historical retention, expected career paths, demand for seafarers to join the shore organization, and so forth. We are sourcing Cadets and Boys with a perspective looking at least four to five years into the future on such various factors.
With the newbuildings coming out of China and Japan, I predict that our crew pool will be slightly bigger than today in five years’ time. Competence of our seafarers will be a crucial key for success going forward. The reason for that is that the game of being a seafarer is changing rapidly. Examples of areas where we need to focus on competence building are:
How can the seafarers contribute to the achievement of these goals?
Our fleet handles approximately one million tons of cargo every month. Every month, approximately 250,000 man hours are worked on our ships. The seafarers form the frontline of serving our customers. Our ships go everywhere and they do it any time. Our seafarers handle the most hazardous liquids more efficiently and safer than anyone else in the industry. I think it is safe to say that our seafarers contribute every day to the goals of the company. The contributions are versatile and covers for example maintaining the ships in mint condition, timely presenting cargo tanks ready for loading, caring for the cargo, and delivering it timely in good condition, ensuring successful customer inspections and port state inspections – just to mention a few aspects.
But, if there is one single thing that will be the biggest contribution from our seafarers, it is to stay safe always!
Who is Torger outside Odfjell?
Torger is always Torger, 24/7, nothing much to do about that. But when I have some time off I enjoy socializing with friends, taking care of the family and doing some physical training. Although I must admit that the part about physical training needs some improvement.
