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History
Established in 1971, Seatrans has evolved from the roots of Norwegian maritime culture. For generations, the families of its founders, Wollert Hvide and Bjarne Kyrkjebø, have been involved in seafaring and shipping.
Hvide and Kyrkjebø joined forces in 1971, forming the management company Seatrans, with chartering responsibility for 14 vessels ranging from 200 - 2,200 dwt. Employing innovative shipping concepts, Seatrans developed close contacts with a number of leading charterers. Within a few years, Seatrans had disposed of all its conventional cargo vessels and opted for side-loading vessels for unitized cargo.The development of the sideloading concept for unitized cargoes was the start of the “industrial” Seatrans. The new sidedoor handling technology for palletized cargoes, pulp and paper reels, provided improved quality, weather protection and performance. The side-loading concept proved a success with Nordic paper mills and industries and became Seatrans most important trade for almost two decades.
Chemical tanker business
Seatrans’ engagement in the chemical tanker business dates from 1968, with shipments of sulphuric acid in a small 200 tonner. The chemical tanker business started as a North Sea operation with specialized cargoes, and has been gradually developed into European and Trans Atlantic trades.
Innovative
Seatrans has always focused on high quality ship management. The tradition for innovative concepts in cargo-handling and technology has been kept up by development projects. A new generation of vessels was developed in the late 80s with the 5,000-tonne paper carrier manned by a crew of six. Seatrans also developed new tanker concepts with special Teflon coatings and also the first chemical carrier with LPG capacity.
In the 1990s, Seatrans strengthened its market presence in the chemical sector. A chemical tanker chartering organisation was established and the activities increased by pools and collaboration with other European operators.
Coastal and North-Sea trades
A part of the Seatrans history is also its coastal and North-Sea trades with multi-purpose vessels with roro, sideport and heavy lift cranes. Seatrans played a leading role in the consolidation of the regular cargo services between Western Norway and the UK/Continent. This resulted in the establishment of Sea-Cargo in 2001, today a major liner operator with 8 vessels in North Sea trade, 60% owned by Seatrans.
In 2007 Seatrans entered into a new business segment in the offshore industry by converting two paper carriers into survey vessels for electromagnetic seismic operations (CSEM).
2nd generation
A new owner generation took over at Seatrans in 1997, with the active partners Johan G. Hvide and Lars Helge Kyrkjebø.
