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RETURNING TO SAL
Sune Thorleifsson, Head of Projects
We are pleased to announce Sune
Thorleifsson as new Head of our Project
Department. Sune is well known within the
company as he already started with SAL
in 2004, after having worked five years in
Rotterdam and Singapore. Until 2012 he
was responsible for managing the Project
Department of SAL. From 2012 to autumn
2015, Sune seaked new challenges with
industry peers Combi Lift and BigLift be-
fore deciding to come back to SAL. Work-
ing for many years in the industry now,
Sune has been broadening his experience
within heavy lift shipping in his various
management positions. Now he returns
with great know-how, new ideas and con-
cepts. As of 1 October, he will once again
focus on strengthening and developing
the SAL Project Department.
“I’m very pleased that I have been
given the opportunity to work together
with my “new” old colleagues, and am
looking forward to promoting our safe
and excellent service in many years to
come”,
he points out.
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INSIDE SAL
K
arsten Behrens is heading the in-house
transport engineering team of SAL, being
responsible for the development of innova-
tive transportation and installation solutions. With
a background in the development of lifting appli-
ances and over eight years of experience with SAL,
he is working on the interface between marketing,
engineering and realization in close cooperation with
clients. We took the chance to get more insight into
his personal story:
How did your career in the heavy lift industry start?
Before joining SAL and the “real” heavy lift industry, I worked as a
lifting appliances expert at the “TÜV Nord”, a big German techni-
cal surveillance association. As a structural engineer, my main
task there was to verify design calculations of container cranes.
Some of them I can sometimes see here in the port of Hamburg,
e. g. at the Eurogate or Altenwerder container terminal. Container
cranes are not used for heavy lift operations, but they are heavy
equipment themselves – and for me it was a first step towards
the shipping industry. Although I didn’t make it onto ships at that
point, I had arrived in the marine world.
What prompted you to join SAL’s engineering department?
10 years ago my daughter Martha was born 5 minutes apart from
Hans Heinrich’s (founder of SAL) granddaughter in the same
hospital. This lead to a chain of events, of which one was to send
my CV to SAL, which in turn lead to my starting in the Supercar-
go Department in 2007. To me it was a fascinating idea to work
on real heavy lifting – on a ship, and with the ship. There was a
picture on the SAL website showing an engineer somewhere in a
hold, together with a crew member looking at drawings. This was
my idea of a cool job – and I have not been disappointed.
What are the challenges you face in your daily job?
The most recurring type is to find (and, if necessary, innovate)
solutions for problems on very short notice. Even small issues
can become a real challenge when time is extremely short.
Many of the deadlines we have to face are not really
negotiable, for example “start of loading is tomorrow
morning 6:00 am”.
A different kind of challenge is to not lose track on
long-term topics like the development of document
templates, the improvement of internal processes,
etc. Although challenges often mean stressful times
and high workloads, it is this that makes the job
interesting. And a mastered one is truly an uplifting
experience.
What was the most challenging job you did for SAL?
It is not possible to name a concrete project. Every bigger job I
was involved in had those specific moments where you wonder
how to get on. These moments can occur already in the planning
phase but of course also on board, when your planning turns
into reality and suddenly reality turns out to be different to the
assumptions.
One task I remember as a personal challenge was a series of
heavylift workshops in India, 6 years ago. For the first time I had
to hold presentations to a big audience – in English!
Recent challenging projects were the transportion of a 1400 t
living quarter module on MV Svenja and a carousel transportation
on MV Frauke last year. The time pressure was enormous, and
we were constantly working on the limits of the vessel’s capa-
bilities, struggling to make impossible things possible. Only the
great teamwork and high personal commitment, especially from
the lead engineers made these projects a success.
What do you expect from SAL in the future?
To be the Number One heavy lift carrier – with the world’s best
heavylift engineering and a great team spirit!
If you had to convince someone of working in the heavy lift
industry. What would you say?
Join in and you will be doing spectacular things that others only
can watch on Discovery channel. Join SAL, and you will be part of
a great worldwide team of heavy lift specialists!
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UP CLOSE WITH KARSTEN BEHRENS
General Manager Engineering
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