Isak Martinius Skaugen 1875 - 1962 Master Mariner 1900 Part Owner 1912 Ship Owner 1916		Morits Skaugen sr. 1920 - 2005 Joined the company in 1947 and made a partner together with his two brothers in 1952. As a ship owner he held many positions of trust in national and international shipping organizations.		Morits Skaugen 1955 - Joined the board in late 1990 and became CEO in 1992. Since then he has been in charge of refocusing the activities of the Group, concentrating on customer service, quality control and reduction of costs, applying a global approach and innovative processes.

STEADY AS SHE GOES

The foundation stone of I.M. Skaugen company was laid in 1916 when Isak Martinius Skaugen, Captain of the four-masted barque 'Alcides', established his company D/S-A/S Eikland. In so doing, he founded a company that was to grow with the times, play its part in history and become what it is today - a modern marine transportation service company. A company with its sights set confidently on the future but with its roots secured in a sound and successful past. Since those early days of the 'Alcides', the company has travelled far and explored different routes, whilst always charting its course to meet the changing needs of the times. Flexibility has been the anchor of Skaugen's success.

The four masted barque, 'ALCIDES'

1916 From Sail to Steam

Master of his own sailing ships since 1900, Captain Skaugen could see that the future belonged to steam-driven vessels and so the 'Alcides' was sold and replaced with a steam vessel of 2,040 DWT, christened the 'Eikland'. The money for this purchase was raised on the Christiania Stock Exchange and the first shareholder to invest in the company was Mr Olaf Eikland. To show his appreciation, Captain Skaugen named the company and its first vessel after him. The 'Eikland' was later joined by two more steam vessels and together they were employed in the North European tramp trade.

The company's first steam vessel
- the 'D/S EIKLAND'

1929 Diesel Power and the Tanker Trade

Looking to develop the company further, Captain Skaugen decided to venture into the transportation of oil and in 1929 signed a contract for the building of his first tanker, choosing the new diesel engine for power and propulsion. In the following years two more diesel-powered tankers were delivered. Thus steam in its turn gave way to a future based on diesel, and consequently Skaugen's steam vessels were sold.

‘M/T PERICLES’
Torpedoed and sunk
off Crete March 1941

1939 - 1945 World War II

At the outbreak of the hostilities in 1939, Captain Skaugen had a newly delivered cargo liner on charter to the British Government, in addition to his three oil tankers. In April 1940, when the Germans occupied Norway, the Skaugen fleet was placed under the control of the exiled Norwegian Government in the UK and became a valuable asset in the Allied war effort. Captain Skaugen lost all contact with his ships from this time until Norway was again a free country in 1945. Only two of the Skaugen vessels survived the war, the rest were torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. The tanker, 'M/T Alcides', was one of these and its fate is testimony to the brutality of war. Of its crew of 52 men, all but three perished, gunned down in their lifeboats in the Indian Ocean escaping the torpedoed ship. However the Captain and two officers were taken prisoner by the submarine that had sunk the ship and survived the horrors of the concentration camps to tell the tale of the 'Alcides' and her men.

‘M/T ALCIDES’
Torpedoed and sunk
Indian Ocean June 1943

1946 Rebuilding - Challenges and Opportunities

Immediately after the war, the first order of business was replacing the lost tonnage and establishing new trade routes. Together with Sven Salen, the largest Swedish ship owner of the day, the Salen-Skaugen Line was established. This line offered regular services between the US West Coast and ports in the Far East, combining general cargo and passengers. The tonnage that survived the war was augmented by newly acquired ships bought in the USA. Another addition to this Trans Pacific line was the unfinished new building, 'Ostmark'. Discovered in Kiel in 1947 and subsequently purchased through the British Ministry of Transport, she was completed and renamed 'Skaugum'. However, after Mao Zedong led the communists to power in China in 1949, the ports so essential for the success of this venture were closed and the partnership decided to withdraw and develop opportunities elsewhere.

‘M/S SKAUVANN’
Survived World War II

1949 Refugees, Troops, Pilgrims and Passengers

World War II left in its wake hundreds of thousands of refugees. Designated 'displaced persons' and collected in camps all over Europe, the relocation of these unfortunate individuals needed to be accomplished speedily. The 'International Refugee Organisation' was given the mandate to relocate them and the USA, Australia and Canada were all willing to receive them. Appropriate vessels were therefore required for this mass transportation project and the 'Skaugum' proved to be a particularly well-suited candidate.

‘M/S SKAUGUM’ - the first refugee carrier and the precursor to Skaugen's venture into modern cruise business

‘M/S SKAUFAST’
Loading iron ore in Labrador

1960 New Cargoes, New Routes, New Specialisations

In the early 1960s, the company commissioned a fleet of four new bulk carriers to serve large freight contracts to shallow water ports in Argentina. Consequently, ship-to-ship transfer was required and Skaugen made its first foray into large scale transfers at sea. Skaugen also pioneered the bulk shipment of cement, developing the self-unloading equipment required. Skaugen was one of the founders of the Norwegian Bulk Carrier pool - NBC, and the vessel size grew from 14,000 to 100,000 DWT over a period of eight years. In addition, a specialised lumber carrier and five new product tankers were added to the fleet.

1968 Cruising - A Brand New Concept

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's -
'M/S SONG OF AMERICA
and M/S SUN VIKING'
In Miami 1982

Building on its experience and expertise in operating passenger ships, Skaugen now saw new opportunities in a specialised cruise concept. Shipboard vacations in hotels with propellers: custom-built ships, scheduled ports, clockwork regularity, maximum efficiency and economy of scale. Thus, together with two other Norwegian owners, Gotaas-Larsen and Anders Wilhelmsen, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded. Later, in the 1980s, in co-operation with J. Lauritzen of Denmark, Pearl Cruises was formed to meet the growing demand for more adventurous cruising to the newly re-opened China.

1971 Offshore Oil, Ro-Ro, and Car Carriers

With the increase of off-shore oil and gas activity in the 1970s, Skaugen Offshore and Skaugen Drilling were established. A drilling rig and four state-of-the-art supply vessels to serve it were ordered. Exploration in the Canadian oil fields off the coast of Labrador and later the Sakhalin fields of the Soviet Far East were the main areas of operations. During the same period, long-term contracts with Ford were signed and thus car decks were built into a number of the bulk carriers. Viking Car Carriers was formed - a collaboration between Skaugen, C.T. Gogstad - another Norwegian owner, and Dominion Steamship Company of New York. In 1974 the owned tonnage was released for other trades and replaced by chartered vessels. Viking Car Carriers operated successfully well into the next decade. New vessel designs for 'roll on roll off' cargoes were emerging and in close association with the Seaboard Company of Canada, who employed Skaugen's former lumber carrier, three new ro-ro vessels were ordered. Fitted for both packaged lumber and cars, they were the biggest of their kind ever built.

‘M/S SKAUGRAN’ - the first of three specially commissioned ro-ro vessels

1981 Liquid Petroleum Gas and Other Activities

Norwegian Gas Carriers - NGC (now Norgas) - was established in 1982 as the chartering and marketing entity for a co-operative pool of 20 LPG carriers, belonging to five separate owners. I.M. Skaugen gradually became the largest shareholder and after merging with two of the most influential of these five, became an owner and operator of liquid petroleum gas carriers. Together with Norwegian ship owner, Anders Jahre, Jahre Skaugen Carriers was established to provide bulk carrier tonnage to service the long-term shipment of iron ore from Brazil to Japan contracted by the Norwegian bulk carrier pool - NBC. In addition, in 1986, Ford Motors expressed interest once again in doing business with Skaugen and a new design concept of vessel was built, the 'Pure Car Carrier'.

'Nosac Skaukar'
- The Pure Car Carrier

1988 Acquisitions and Mergers

Skaugen sold its interest in the Royal Carribean Cruise Line in 1988 and acquired the conglomerate, Kosmos. The main shipping activities of this famous old whaling company were retained and its numerous other businesses sold off. A new I.M.Skaugen (IMS) was registered on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 1990 after a merger of the privately-owned Skaugen family business, the publicly-held Laboremus, founded in 1910 and Kosmos Shipping, founded in 1912. At the same time, the Kosmos shuttle tanker operation based in Texas was spun-off, made public and registered as Skaugen PetroTrans (SPT). The composition of the IMS fleet was four VLCCs, 23 LPG carriers, 10 product tankers and 20 bulk carriers, half of which were owned, and half chartered. The SPT fleet comprised 11 shuttle tankers, six workboats and two chemical tankers.

SPT shuttle tanker lifting cargo from a VLCC in the Gulf of Mexico

1991 The Turnaround Process

Due to substantial weaknesses in the merged companies, evident in high operational costs and high acquisition costs of the assets, I.M. Skaugen shifted its focus from being a diversified investment company to becoming a true marine service transportation company

Under the brand names SPT (Skaugen PetroTrans) and NGC (now NORGAS) the core activities became the ship to ship transfer of oil cargoes and the transportation of gas cargoes.

1996 New Horizons

In 1996, IMS entered into the first Sino-foreign joint shipping venture in China with the Hubei Tianfa Group to transport liquid petroleum gas on the Yangtze River. To secure a stable supply of competent manpower, IMS established its own training and recruiting centres as joint ventures with maritime universities in Wuhan, China, and St.Petersburg, Russia.

Two of Skaugen's five LPG barges, transporting cargoes along the Yangtse river

SPT sold its owned shuttle tanker fleet in 1996, preferring to operate the ship-to-ship transfer business with chartered tonnage. In its first 20 years of operation SPT transferred over four billion barrels of crude oil and received a number of prestigious awards for its safety and environmental record.

Building for a New Era

In 1999 IMS joined forces with GATX Capital of San Francisco to commission six new ethylene carriers from the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Other plans for expansion were on the drawing board, in the expectation of growth in the years ahead.

Norgas Ethylene Carriers built at Hudong shipyard, Shanghai

Epilogue to the century

Captain Isak Martinius Skaugen passed away in 1962 at the age of 87. His grandson, Morits skaugen is the current President and CEO of I.M. Skaugen SE ensuring the continued family leadership of the business.

Into the New Millennium

2001 Alliances and Fleet Expansion

After a sound start to the decade, a continued tight focus on costs and sound management helped to propel Norgas to a particularly strong performance during this period. SPT performed well in the opening years of the new millennium and as the largest trans-shipper of US crude oil imports the company lightered on average over 1.1 million barrels per day or about 14 per cent of the US seaborne crude oil imports.

Norgas took delivery of six new 8000 m3 & 10000 m3 ethylene carriers. By the end of 2003, the Norgas fleet consisted of 19 gas carriers and the average age had been reduced to 16 years. I.M. Skaugen formed a revenue sharing gas carrier pool with A.P. Møller-Mærsk, under the name MNGC. (Mæersk Norgas Carriers).This pool was later transformed into ENGC when the Camilla Eitzen Group took the place of Mærsk

‘M/T NORGAS ORINDA’

In 2003 I.M. Skaugen joined forces with Teekay Shipping Corporation to jointly operate and expand its lightering business, allowing Teekay to take a 50 per cent stake in SPT.
These two alliances enabled I.M. Skaugen to enhance each of its business units and strengthen it’s marketing leadership in the world.
At year end 6 new purpose built 106 000 dwt. lightering tankers were commissioned for SPT on long term bareboat charters commencing in 2007 & 2008.

‘M/T SPT CHALLENGER’ - One of the 6 purpose built shuttle tankers

2004 Partnerships and fleet renewals continue
The company initiated a comprehensive programme to build up to 16 gas carriers to augment the Norgas fleet. The first of these was delivered in 2007. These specially designed vessels will when delivered give the company a solid foundation for future growth in the energy and petrochemical sectors.

‘M/T MEI WEN TI’
Leaving for sea trial

2006 Further Joint Venture Initiatives in China

I.M. Skaugen created a new division in 2006, Skaugen Marine Construction (SMC). Through SMC the company has streamlined it’s marine construction activity in China. SMC has taken primary responsibility for the new build activities by acting as project leader, supported by the company’s two Chinese joint venture (JV) partners.

Taizhou Skaugen Wuzhou Shipbuilding

The first of these JVs is with Taizhou Wuzhou Shipbuilding Co Ltd. The second JV is with Shenghui Gas & Chemical Systems, which specializes in structural cryogenic tanks used in the marine and petrochemical industry.

SHIP TO SHIP transfer of LNG
at Scapa Flow

In 2006, SPT purchased a UK-based lightering company and expanded into the European, Russian and West African markets. This same year SPT performed the world’s first four commercial lightering operations of LNG.

2007 Unique small scale LNG venture in Scandinavia

In June 2007 I.M.Skaugen together with the Stavanger based utility group Lyse, established the joint venture Nordic LNG. Lyse and it’s partners will build Europe’s second largest LNG plant in Stavanger – ready for start up in 2010 – and I.M.Skaugen will use one of it’s innovative Multigas vessels to transport the LNG to end-users as well as to Nordic LNG’s own terminals. From these the Lng will be transported to en-users with semi-trailers. Nordic LNG will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities as well as managing the whole supply chain. This new venture will take I.M.Skaugen beyond it’s role as a maritime service company to become an energy supplier.

More about the Lyse Group on their website www.lyse.no

2007 Large scale CO2 shipping

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) promises to assist in reducing global CO2 emissions by up to 30 percent. Given the huge tonnage, the transportation itself, from source to sink, is a giant. global logistic challenge. Large scale shipping offers an attractive , flexible and fast – to implement alternative and complement to conventional , high CAPX pipe-line solutions. IM Skaugen is the only shipping company operating vessels designed for transporting up to 10 000 m3’s of liquid carbon dioxide . Since 2006 we take a highly proactive role in project and technology development for CO2 transport and hope to be involved in the first “live” project by 2012 – 2013 when the first large scale Carbon Capture projects come on stream.

2008 IMS - Innovative Maritime Solutions -

With the delivery of the new vessels for SPT the future for I.M. Skaugen looks particularly bright. The company’s activities in China - including ship construction are expanding rapidly and are providing the basis for long term development.

"M/T Norgas Innovation" - The first of the multigas class vessels

The journey continues...