October 7, 2022: It’s a balmy 27 celsius on island Ishigaki in Japan as ten Odfjell’ers board the 108-year-old Statsraad Lehmkuhl, one of the world's largest and most beautiful tall ships, currently underway on its global circumnavigation to raise awareness about ocean sustainability.
For decades the grand ship has been used to train leaders of the Norwegian navy, but this week, October 7-12, sailing towards the Philippines, she will be the unique training site for 75 professionals from the maritime industry, headed by the Norway-based organization Maritime Bergen.
Fellow sailors from all walks of life
Most of the participants – although maritime industry colleagues from across the value chain – will only just be discovering their sea legs. There are seafarers among this pioneer class of students, but also CEOs, psychologists, business analysts, superintendents, operation managers, and advisors.

Odfjell's own team hails from five different countries, picked from an enthusiastic and thrilling recruitment process from our offices worldwide.
The Odfjell team:
- Anette Kristine Tennes, 2nd Officer, Norway
- Bryan Anderson, Senior Port Operator, USA
- Gabrielle Mattos Dias Michel, 2nd Mate, Brazil
- Kristoffer Ramstad, Manager Fleet Performance, Norway
- Mary Ann Teoc, Quality Controller Fleet Performance, Philippines
- Mephokazi Bhengu, Commercial Assistant, South Africa
- Michelle Loeffler, Marine Superintendent, Norway
- Rodrigo Menegatti, Operation Manager, Brazil
- Zayber Araya, Seaman, Philippines
- Silje Helene Johnsen, Business Analyst, Norway
Maritime, international diversity
Siv Remøy-Vangen, CEO of Maritime Bergen, who spearheaded the organizing team, says it was “just natural” to want to be a part of the expedition when they were approached by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl foundation CEO, Haakon Vatle:
“This leg represents our industry's diversity. When you work in shipping, you can do business with Singapore and close with Brazil before bed. It was incredible to see the turnout from the different companies and how they nominated participants from all over their offices and all over the world.”
She continues: “Amazingly, we have 75 participants from 16 countries on four continents. The age gap is 16-66, and the gender balance is 45-55%. The melting pot of people on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl on this leg shows the diversity of the maritime industry. I hope that the output of this voyage will be something that we can take with us in the future, that it will contribute to breaking down silos and that we can learn more from each other.”