Hjelland Tapped to Take the Helm at Servogear

MarineLink April 9, 2021

Vermund Hjelland was named the new CEO of Servogear starting in August 2021. (Photo: Servogear)

Servogear announced it has seen record sales during the first quarter of 2021, and has established an order back-log of $14 million for delivery in 2021, compared to total sales of $9.1 million for the whole of 2020, driven by orders for zero emission propulsion systems for high-speed passenger ferries and cruise & sightseeing vessels for tourism.

The company is also a provider of propulsion systems to highspeed crew transfer vessels used to ferry service personnel to and from offshore wind turbines, and it has orders for nine such highspeed vessels for delivery this year, and has recently signed a contract for the first hybrid CTV with a British operator.

Charting its plot for further growth, it recruited Vermund Hjelland as new CEO starting in August 2021. Torleif Stokke, who has held the position of CEO for the last eight years, takes a new position in the company as Business Development Manager, to strengthen the activities towards the Green Shift.

Meet the new CEO
Hjelland holds a Naval Architect degree, and comes from a position as Vice President, Technology & Development in the shipping company Eidesvik Offshore ASA. He has wide experience from development of more environmentally friendly operation of the fleet of purpose-built offshore vessels, with transition to LNG operation, battery/hybrid operation and renewable solutions designed to reduce emission from the shipping industry.

"Servogear is a very interesting company, with cutting edge technology, and will contribute strongly to reduce emission of greenhouse gases from highspeed commercial vessels," says Hjelland. "During the next years, between 75 and 80 new highspeed passenger ferries may be built in Norway alone, to meet the government’s objective of reducing the emission from domestic shipping in Norway by 50% within
2030. For me it is rewarding to contribute towards this development within Servogear."

Torleif Stokke, who has held the position of CEO for the last eight years, takes a new position in the company as Business Development Manager, to strengthen the activities towards the Green Shift. (Photo: Servogear)