Dear colleagues,
First and foremost a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all of you! I hope you have had a great vacation together with family and good friends and that you are entering the year rested and motivated. That is at least how I feel!
We can look back at a year with solid operational results: There were no serious personnel injuries, there were no major pollution cases and cargoes were delivered on spec and on time. Such stellar performance does not come by itself. It is the result of competence, attitude, dedication and teamwork. I will therefore start this year-end summary with a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone in Odfjell for your valuable contributions. I am really proud to be part of such a professional and inclusive team.
Safety remains our number one priority. This is something that will never change. First and foremost to offer all our colleagues a safe working environment but this is also a requirement from our customers and an expectation from society. This is also the reason why we last year implemented the life-saving rules: By following them you will be contributing to a safer workplace. We will continue to strive for an honest and transparent working environment where we continuously learn and improve. Here we need everyone on board and we rely on your participation and contributions!
For the first time during my time with Odfjell, our total debt is now below USD 1 billion. Just before Christmas we also signed a vessel refinancing with the best interest margins ever achieved by our company. Both of these are important milestones and they serve to confirm that we are on the right track when it comes to improving our financial position. This ambition will also be high on our agenda going forward.
It is no secret that our fleet has shrunk. We have been actively working to compensate for the vessels that have left our fleet and that work will continue in 2023. Our 100-ship target remains!
We have over the years made major improvements with respect to digitalization and most aspects of our operations are now monitored through up-to-date applications. In 2023 our digitalization efforts will be focused on core processes such as operations, chartering and ship management.
We operate the most environmentally friendly fleet in our segment and we have every reason to be proud of the results that we have achieved. However, also in 2022 we saw devastating effects of climate change: wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and drought. Species are also disappearing at an accelerating rate. We have an obligation to do what we can to mitigate these effects and our best contribution is to further decrease the carbon intensity of our vessels. Several exciting projects are lined up and you will learn more about these in the months to come.
I really look forward to working together with you on all the opportunities and challenges that are ahead of us and I wish you every success in the year to come!
Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Harald
