Meet Erik Hjortland

Erik Hjortland joined Odfjell in 2007 as Fleet Performance Analyst, and has headed up Odfjell’s speed/consumption efficiency program through his positions as analyst and later Advisor Fleet Performance & Bunkering, Manager Fleet Performance and Group Manager Fleet Performance & Procurement. Erik and his team introduced several innovations through the years that’s had a major impact on our fleets’ efficiency and consumption. In August 2018, he was appointed VP Technology and moved offices from Odfjell Tankers to Ship Management. 
 

Can you share with us your Odfjell story? 

I started in Odfjell in 2007 as Fleet Performance Analyst. Back then, speed/consumption was basically a one-man show with limited resources, and our focus was to push the speed and thus consumption of the ships as much as possible. One of the first things we did was to establish proper target values for the ships, and slow down the Kvaerner class ships in the autumn of 2007. In hindsight, I believe this marked the real start of the energy efficiency program in Odfjell. 

As time went by, I got more and more involved in bunkers purchase, and I was appointed Advisor Fleet Performance & Bunkering. During this period we implemented many fuel cost reduction measures, including our weather routing concept. This was quite challenging to implement, and a lot of my energy was spent on measuring and documenting the effects to convince the stakeholders that this really was a good thing.

Now that the cost savings from our weather routing have exceeded USD 10 million and the average wave height reported from our ships have gone from 3 meters in 2008 to 0.6 meters in 2018, it surely was worth it. 

A video interview with Erik on how Odfjell Tankers uses weather routing is still featured on StormGeo’s website: 

In 2012, we got acceptance to increase the workforce. I got the position Manager Fleet Performance, and was lucky to recruit Kristoffer Ramstad as the new Fleet Performance Analyst. Over the next three years we developed and implemented many new fuel cost reduction measures, among them a new performance data collection and monitoring system which I still believe is quite unique in shipping.

We must however remember that systems do not reduce costs, concepts do. And a concept is basically people utilizing a system in an optimum way. Without the significant efforts done by Kristoffer, later Christopher Stene, and Arnel Pinedo and Mary Ann Teoc at our Manila office, this concept would never have been successful. I hope they all take pride in their contributions to the fact that our fleet today is more than 20% more energy efficient than it was in 2009. Some of our ships have even improved more than 30% in the same period. 

Following Project Felix, it was decided to merge Fleet Performance and Bunkers Purchase into one department, and I got the position as Manager Fleet Performance & Bunkering. Again I was blessed by highly skilled and dedicated colleagues in Senior Bunkers Purchasers Mette Steinestø and May Brit Christiansen. Together, we developed a new bunkers purchase concept utilizing big data analytics.

If I’m not mistaken, this was the first area where we made a business intelligence tool in Odfjell.

This was a very interesting process to all of us, and I believe that the way we utilized this concept has given positive spin-off effects in other areas as well. As we approach the 2020 fuel regulations, and sourcing and purchase of compliant fuels, I am confident that we are well prepared. 

In 2016, quality/event handling was transferred to the department. In this phase we built on the experiences from the big data analytics projects on bunkers, and developed a simple but efficient event handling and quality control concept for Odfjell Tankers that proved very useful. In this period we improved the number of reported events by more than 1000%, and I want to commend Tord Sæle for his efforts in this process.     

In January 2018, both operational and ship management procurement were transferred to the department, and I was appointed Group Manager Fleet Performance & Procurement. 

When I transferred to the Technology section in August 2018, I realized that what started as a one-man show and some excel spreadsheets 11 years earlier now consisted of 20 dedicated and innovative colleagues in three countries, annually handling a cost base of several hundred million dollars, 1,200 bunker operations, 14,000 purchases, 900 voyage routings, 100 underwater operations, 30,000 performance reports, 100 supplier contracts, and a large business intelligence portfolio.

First and foremost, this evolvement is a result of trust and teamwork, where I have played only one of the many parts.

What do you consider to be the highlights of your career so far? 

It is tempting to point at some of our innovation projects, but the fact is that projects have limited lifetime because the world, markets, and ships change as time goes by. That is why it has been important to me to build a sustainable and autonomous team with culture and mindset that realizes this, and with the ability to adapt and a desire to always evolve and improve. I believe that we managed this with the Fleet Performance & Procurement department, and that marks the highlight of my career. 
 

As VP of Technology, what will be your highest priorities in the near future? 

My top priority has been to map status and give a clear direction from there. The first three months in my new role, I therefore tried to listen more than talk. Based on this, it became quite clear to me what we are good at and what we need to improve.

We have defined a long-term strategical model, aligned with the Odfjell Compass, and we have defined what we really are and what we want to be. We have also established a set of guiding principles that bridge the company mission, vision, and values with what we consider to be our three main deliveries: Technical Expertise, Project Management, and Innovation.

To meet the requirements for Technology, we have launched three high-level goals:

1. Increase our efficiency and service level
2. Improve our analytical capability
3. Improve our communication towards our stakeholders

To answer to these goals, we have developed a roadmap of around 70 actions or sub-projects that need to be done. Moving forward, it is of course essential to commit to this, and actually put the roadmap into action. So far we have completed around 40 of the initiatives – so we are on good track and I believe most of the remaining initiatives will be implemented within 2019.

Our top priorities from the roadmap are to support our 2020 initiatives, develop and implement a Drydock management tool, harvest from Project Uniform and complete our part of the Vessel Connectivity project.    

How do you see the Technology section in the next five years? 

The way we see it, the ships are our factories. The Chartering department decides what they are to produce. Our ship operators and the ship crew decide how to do it. Our fleet management shall make sure that they can do it. Technology’s role is to efficiently support, advise and facilitate for all of them.

We must be a competence center within our area of expertise and deliveries. If not we have no license to exist. This realization is what led to the three high-level targets of ours. 

How can the seafarers contribute to the achievement of these goals? 

First of all, I want to stress an important principle which we have talked a lot about internally:

As a support organization, we are here for the ships – not the other way around. It can sound very basic, but I think it is sound to remind ourselves about that from time to time.

This means that when we develop tools or procedures, we must simplify things, remove self-made bureaucracy, have user-friendliness in focus, and need to automate what can be automated.

The seafarers’ role is to tell us what they need and to be clear on what is working and what is not working. As always, communication is the key word here. 

Who is Erik outside of Odfjell? 

My wife and I have three daughters, age two, four and six. Both of us have quite hectic jobs, and we prioritize to spend most of our time off work together with the children. I consider that to be a good investment for all of us. I work out before work, and if time in the evenings permits, I like to read books, preferably those about World War II, and spend time in our garden. We have a small and very simple summer house on the Swedish west coast where we spend every summer. This is the highlight of the year for all of us.