The Asian crisis, as I see it, is short term. It will be worked out. The oil price has affected the fabrication side of the business, some projects have been put on the back burner, but while oil prices have been low, charter rates were actually higher than the previous year. The older the fleet gets, the more things there are to be repaired. And that's where we make our money.
Few people are better equipped to deal with the opportunity.
Since qualifying as a naval architect, Steinar Draegebo has led many of the ship repair industry's biggest names in a career that has taken him around the globe and seen him honoured by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for his contribution to that nation's industry. His current position at Team, however, is the one he has been working towards for some time. In our business, there aren't too many of those around. I went overnight from having 10 shareholders to having 21,000. The downside is that Draegebo no longer gets his hands dirty, and he regrets the fact that time and the pressure of work keep him away from the ships that he loves.