The rumor spread quietly last year in the port of Esbjerg that TotalEnergies had got its first female Danish platform manager in the Danish part of the North Sea. It is the first time in Denmark that a Danish woman has got such a job.
Civil engineer Malene Birkemose Knudsen became offshore installation manager (OIM) – as the title is called in the oil and gas industry on the Halfdan field in April 2022. The position is like a captain on a ship, where the platform manager is the top manager on the platform with responsibility for both employees and production.
45-year-old Malene Birkemose Knudsen is relaxed about the job, and that she became the first female Danish platform manager, the same year that oil and gas production turned 50 in Denmark. With that, she has written herself into the history books. However, it is not something that fills her.
- My friends and family think it went well. But it's not something I advertise, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who is enthusiastic about her work:
- I'm really happy about it, even though it's not a job I specifically went for.
It all started with a choice between two study cities.
Copenhagen or Esbjerg
Although Malene Birkemose Knudsen is from the university town of Odense, the choice was between studying engineering in either Copenhagen or Esbjerg.
- I moved to Esbjerg to study, because at that time you could only study for a bachelor's degree in engineering in Odense. But I wanted to be a civil engineer, and so it ended up in Esbjerg. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take the last part if I had stayed in Odense, she says.
As a civil engineer, my career began at Mærsk, which at the time was responsible for the extraction of oil and gas from the Danish part of the North Sea.
- I started 21 years ago as a trainee at Mærsk, later I became a process engineer, project manager and onshore production manager, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who has been in Esbjerg, Singapore and Qatar during her time at Mærsk.
At one point she had tried so many different things that offshore work was a drag.
- My children are of an age where I can be away from them, and it is definitely an exciting opportunity to have, she says now about the job as platform manager.
Her daughters are now eight and 15 years old, so they can be alone with their father for the 14 days that Malene Birkemose Knudsen is away on Halfdan B. There are three platform managers who replace each other on the platform.
- I had rotations with each of the other three before I went out alone, explains Malene Birkemose Knudsen.
After that, one of the three could resign from their position, so there are three again to share the position.
14 days away but more free time with the family
Malene Birkemose Knudsen has prepared her family for what it would be like when she is away for 14 days.
- I clarified it with my husband and children before I made the decision, even though they probably didn't quite know what it entailed, she says.
And even though her children have gotten used to their mother going to work in the North Sea for 14 days at a time, one thing is still certain.
- My children are tired of it when I have to away, but that's not strange. You have to be a certain type of person to be able to be away for 14 days, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen.
Even though the workplace is 200 km out in the North Sea, and she doesn't work 12 hours a day but 24 hours a day as a platform manager, there is time to keep in touch with her family.
- I call them several times a day on FaceTime, she says about something that, despite the distance, provides a form of closeness with her family.
Work at Halfdan
While the work that Malene Birkemose Knudsen has previously had has been almost exclusively of a technical and managerial nature, the work as an offshore installation manager contains even more facets.
- It's like a small community where you live off each other for 14 days, you have to be able to get along with everyone. A good team and cooperation are important. I am the one who has to make sure that everyone is happy and comfortable. Everything has to work, and that applies from the kitchen to the cleaning, which are also important parts of it, she says.
Safety and well-being are something that is not compromised for the up to 80 employees who can work on Halfdan B at a time. In addition, Malene Birkemose Knudsen is also responsible for 30 employees on Halfdan A and the unmanned Halfdan C.
Total Halfdan A, B and C produce 45,000 barrels of oil and gas per day – or as the industry calls it, oil and gas equivalents. So it is both the responsibility for the safety of the employees and a production that must run. Even though it is routine work, it is not always like that.
- You never know what the day will bring, and you can't spend time thinking about what to do if a gas alarm goes off at three in the morning, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen about one of the reasons why her work is 24 hours a day.
And that is certainly something that Halfdan can show really good statistics on.
- Safety is a top priority, and we have just celebrated five years without a single person being away for more than 24 hours, she says.
There are a number of things that are otherwise part of everyday life that don't need to be thought about on an offshore platform.
- You don't need to think about all the practical things, like picking up children and shopping. You have to go down and get your clothes from the laundry, she says.
Although all the practicalities have been taken care of at Halfdan, there is no doubt what the first days of the three weeks off are earmarked for.
- You have a completely different freedom with three weeks off. But the first days after I get home, I need to go for long walks alone with my dog, explains Malene Birkemose Knudsen.
Good reception as a female boss
It is no secret that working offshore is a male-dominated world, and on Halfdan B there are between five to six women out of the up to 80 on board. But Malene Birkemose Knudsen has been well received.
- It has been like any other newbie, that I just needed to be looked at a bit. I have definitely noticed that the male world is being throttled down a bit. The men probably benefit from a woman coming, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who has not noticed any difference in the way the foreign employees treat her either.
- When I worked in Qatar, I noticed that some had a hard time with a female boss, it has not been like that at Halfdan, she says.
She also has a message for other women.
- You have to see the opportunities as a woman, because there are many opportunities as a woman in a large company. The oil industry is seen as unattractive, but I don't agree with that at all, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen.
Malene Birkemose Knudsen became the first female platform manager in the Danish part of the North Sea in April and already in the autumn of 2022 another woman was hired in the same position.
More women are definitely on their way offshore, because TotalEnergies has a global strategy and goal of 30 percent. of all the company's managers and top executives must be women by 2025.
Malene Birkemose Knudsen's workplace Halfdan C has world-class sea views. Photo: TotalEnergies.
This version of the article was updated on 27.03.23 at 15:28.
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