New CEO for merged Intership/Aquaship

Intership and Aquaship, the aquaculture support services businesses which merged in December last year, have announced a change at the top of management and a name for the combined company: “Intership/Aquaship”.

Sverre Taknes (pictured, left), formerly CEO at Aquaship and then Chief Executive of the combined business, will now “transition” to a role as Board Director and a strategic advisor.

Ole Peter Brandal (pictured, right), the former head at Intership, will assume the role of CEO.

Intership and Aquaship have a combined fleet of 38 vessels, including live-fish carriers, utility vessels, harvest vessels, feed carriers, service vessels, and two newbuilds under construction. The company has a significant presence serving the aquaculture sector with 700 employees in Norway, Scotland, Chile, Canada, and Ireland.

The two companies, both Norway-based, were brought together at the end of last year by equity investor American Industrial Partners. The trading name for the merged organisation was not decided at that point, however.

Intership/Aquaship said: “Taknes and Brandal have worked closely together since the merger and have continuously discussed how to best organize for the future.”

Sverre Taknes said: “Since founding AquaShip in 2005, I have had the privilege of working alongside an exceptional team to build a company that stands at the forefront of our industry. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have led AquaShip and now, as I transition to the Board of Directors, I am excited to continue shaping the strategic direction of AquaShip / Intership and support Ole Peter, who I have worked together with to merge the two companies since this past December.”

Alex Schukin, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: “We appreciate Sverre’s contributions to the AquaShip / Intership merger to-date and continued involvement on key strategic topics going forward. The road ahead of us is ambitious and exciting, and I am confident we will achieve it together.”

New CEO Ole Peter Brandal commented: “Sverre has been instrumental in building a solid foundation for our company. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead AquaShip / Intership and building on our successes. Together with our talented team, we will strive to exceed the expectations of our customers and stakeholders, and importantly, for our employees.”

Intership 3D 6500 and 4000