Our history What started as a Norwegian family business with one vessel, is now a publicly listed company and a world-leading logistics service provider for chemicals and other specialty bulk liquids. The chemicals and liquids Odfjell ships carry and our terminals store are vital building blocks for a multitude of everyday products. Since 1914, we have unfolded our story in every corner of the world. 1890 Captain Berendt Daniel Olsen moves to Bergen with his family to become part of modern shipping: steam and steel 1914 17 November: First Odfjell ship owning company is formally registered, AS DS Birk 1915 The Odfjell brothers, Fredrik and Abraham Odfjell, incorporate AS Rederiet Odfjell 1921 Odfjell makes a brief entry into the tanker trade with the SS Vaarli, rebuilt as a tanker 1938 Odfjell makes a small re-entry into the tanker trade with the newbuilding MT Lind 1940 World War II: Odfjell fleet is split. Three ships in home waters and four on high seas. Home fleet suffers devastating losses 1946 Bow is used as the name prefix on an Odfjell vessel for the first time 1950s Most Odfjell ships are dry cargo line vessels, but small specialized tankers become increasingly important 1960 Odfjell takes delivery of the world’s first stainless tanker, MT Lind Steam and Steel SS Vaarli officers First Tanker SS Vaarli 1963 Dan Odfjell establishes Minde Chartering, Odfjell’s own marketing organization 1969 Opening of the first Odfjell tank terminal, the TAGSA in Buenos Aires 1973 The business is split into two parts: AS Rederiet Odfjell for shipping, and Odfjell Drilling for offshore oil exploration 1973 Opening of the new Odfjell headquarters at Minde, Bergen 1975 Delivery of the first 12 Polish built chemical tankers 1979 The Company is split into two independent parts, one for each branch of the family 1980 Cooperation with Westfal-Larsen is strenghtened through the establishment of OWL Tankers In convoy during WW2 Bernt Daniel & Johan Odvar Odfjell Bow Future Project 1983 Opening of the Baytank in Houston 1986 Storli is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange Late 1980s Filipino crew start being employed on our ships 1990 NCC of Saudi Arabia replaces Westfal-Larsen as our main chemical tanker partner 1992 Acquisition of minority share in the Vopak Terminal Ningbo 1994 Delivery of first of 16 new state of the art stainless chemical tankers, the Kvaerner series 1994 Establishment of Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) 1998 Company name is changed from Storli to Odfjell 1999 The second Poland class: delivery of four 6,000 dwt fully stainless chemical tankers 1999 Venture into the iso-container business Kvaerner Series Philippino Crew onboard Odfjell Baytank Houston 2000 The Botlek terminal in Rotterdam is aquired and renamed Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) 2001 Odfjell Terminals becomes a partner in Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals (Singapore) 2002 Odfjell Terminals becomes a partner in Odfjell Terminals (Korea) 2003 – 2007 The third Poland class: delivery of eight 40,000 dwt fully stainless steel chemical tankers 2003 Odfjell Academy training center established in Subic, Zamales, Philippines 2004 Fleet Asia is established with ship management of some vessels out of Singapore 2005 Odfjell Terminals becomes a partner in Exir Chemical Terminal (PJSCO), Iran, and Odfjell Terminals (Jiangjin), China 2007 Odfjell Terminals becomes a partner in Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals (Oman) 2007 Gross revenue exceed USD 1 billion for the first time 2008 Odfjell Philippines, Inc. is established New Poland Class Odfjell Academy Philippines Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam 2010 Construction of a new terminal in Charleston, USA, starts 2011 Odfjell partners with Lindsay Goldberg for the terminals business 2011 Signing the United Nations Global Compact 2012 Odfjell Terminals starts construction of Odfjell Nangang Terminals (Tianjin), China, and becomes a partner in Noord Natie Odfjell Terminals in Antwerp, Belgium 2012 Re-entering into the gas segment by the establishment of Odfjell Gas Carriers 2013 Delivery of the world’s largest chemical tanker, Bow Pioneer 2013 Odfjell Terminals becomes a partner in Quanzhou (Fujian), China 2014 Celebrating 100 year anniversary Noord Natie Antwerp Terminal Bow Pioneer Charleston Terminal 2014 Opening of Odfjell Terminals (Charleston), USA 2014 Odfjell partners with affiliates of Breakwater Capital and Oak Hill Advisors to form a liquefied petroleum gas and ethylene (LPG/E) shipping joint venture 2014 Odfjell Gas enters into pool agreement with Lauritzen Kosan 2015 Odfjell starts upgrading propulsion system for 19 vessels to optimize energy efficiency 2015 Odfjell Academy’s training facilities are transferred to the Manila office 2015 Odfjell exits European regional trade 2016 Odfjell sells share of Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co. LLC in Oman 2016 Newbuilding contracts are signed with China Shipbuilding Trading CO., Ltd. and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) CT., Ltd. for construction of a series of 4+2+2 54,600 cbm chemical tankers – the world’s largest stainless steel chemical tankers New efficient technology 2014: Odfjell 100 year Energy efficient ships 2017 Odfjell enters into agreement with Japanese ship owner 2017 Pool agreements are entered with Chemical Transportation Group (Chempool25) and Sinochem (Chempool40) 2017 Odfjell sells indirect ownership share in Exir Chemical Terminal and its 50% ownership share in Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Pte Ltd 2017 Ship Management services is consolidated in Bergen, and Odfjell partners with Thome Ship Management in Singapore for the management of its regional Asia fleet 2018 Odfjell sells its ownership share in the Rotterdam terminal 2018 Odfjell appoints its first Chief Operations Officer 2018 Odfjell SE takes stronger role in Terminals. Odfjell Terminals BV is converted to a 100% Odfjell SE controlled holding company 2019 Funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partner becomes new joint venture parter for Odfjell Terminals US when Lindsay Goldberg exits 2019 The world’s largest stainless steel chemical tankers are delivered from the Hudong-Zhonghua yard in China 2019 Odfjell SE sells its ownership share of terminal in Jiangyin, China 2020 Odfjell sets ambition climate targets and appoints first Chief Sustainability Officer 2020 Odfjell SE increases ownership of Odfjell Terminals Korea to 50%, and Odfjell Terminals (China) Ptd. Ltd. sells ownership of Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) Co. Ltd. 2021 Odfjell SE successully places shipping’s first Sustainability-Linked Bond 2021 Odfjell SE exits the gas carrier segment Booklet: Odfjell 100 years – Our history Related stories History Birk and the 1926 North Atlantic rescue operation In most of her 22 year working life for Odfjell, SS Birk was a working horse that did not cause much attention. Except for the winter of 1926, when the actions of ship... Read more History Odfjell honors World War II sailors In 1942, Odfjell's Captain Hans Anton Trovik showed exemplary seamanship in a dramatic outbreak operation. For his achievements, he was awarded the War Cross and several... Read more Tankers - History Bow Odyssey enters the Odfjell fleet On January 9, 2020 at 17:15 local time in Shanghai, the third of our series of four newbuilt, 49,000 dwt chemical tankers was officially delivered to Odfjell. Welcome,... 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