Page 14: of Marine Technology Magazine (April 2012)

The Norwegian maritime and subsea clusters are well- regarded globally for innovative, well-engineered solu- tions. Imenco is no exception. On the occasion of OI 12 last month in London, Marine Technology Reporter has theopportunity to sit down with Imenco CEO Geir Egil Østebøvikand its VP of Business Development in the U.S., Al Cohen, to discuss the quick rise and promising future of a company with innovation at its heart and engi- neering in its soul.? by Greg Trauthwin, Editor When Østebøvik joined Imenco in 1999 as its manag- ing director, he could not have imagined the rapid rise and successful trajectory of Imenco. When he joined, there were six people total in the company. Two years later the fate of the man and company became forever intertwined, as Østebøvik bought the company and immediately set acourse toward growth. When he joined, Imenco was mainly an engineering consulting company with but a single product, the guide wire anchor. Fairly early on I saw that in order to grow the company, in order to make money, we needed to have more products in the range, so we started developing our own products, buying product lines from other compa- nies, and in fact buying other companies,? said Østebøvik.The strategy reaped dividends, setting the foundation for Imenco to grow from a six-person engineering shop to a 100-person engineering system solutions company, able to deliver from design to installation a wide spectrum of products and systems to the global maritime and offshore markets. All of our products are engineered for safety and securi- ty built in,? Østebøvik said. We have Statoil as one of our big and demanding customers, and they think safety, safe- ty, safety ? to keep them as a customer safety is the cen- ter of our company culture.? Breadth of Product, System and Service Imenco is an EPC-contractor to the maritime industry that designs, develops, and manufactures a wide range of products such as Diving Systems, Helicopter Fuel Systems, Industrial CCTV Systems, Cameras, Lifting & Handling products, Subsea cameras and tools, including subsea Lights and Lasers. Its engineering team is special- ized in the area of mechanics, hydraulics and electronics engineering.We typically get business from the oil companies, par- ticularly Statoil which is very close to us, said Al Cohen, Imencos Vice President of Business Development for the U.S. based in Houston, and a driver for the companys business outside of its home base in Haugesund. Samsung and Hyundai in Korea are major clients as well, as we are helping in the outfitting of offshore rigs and FPSO, main- ly with our helicopter refueling system and some of our guiding systems.Imenco Powers Ahead Offshore The story of Haugesund, Norway-based Imenco is not far afield from that of other Norwegian maritime and subsea sector companies: Innovative & fast-growing with a keen engineering sense. Geir Egil Østebøvik, managing director and CEO of Imenco, has grown the company from 6 employees in 1999 to more than 100 today. 14MTRApril 2012