She almost knows the world's oceans already, because 31-year-old Selamawit Mebrahtu has already sailed as an engineer. Selam, as she is called at her Danish workplace at Seasight Davits in Ringkøbing, is on her way to opening the company's first office in New York as regional director for the USA. Selamawit Mebrahtu was born in Eritrea and raised in Norway, where her family still lives. She completed her engineering education in Bergen.
Seasight Davits designs, develops and produces davits cranes. Each offshore wind turbine has its own crane installed. The cranes are used to hoist tools and spare parts onto the turbines.
The USA is an emerging market, and Seasight Davits will be part of the country's ambitious plans for offshore wind. That is why Selamawit Mebrahtu has been recruited internally at Seasight Solution, formerly known as Hvide Sande Shipyard.
- We want to be where our customers are. And I'm really looking forward to moving to New York in January 2024 and getting it all started. The market is new, and the potential is enormous. There are even more planned in the future, says Selamawit Mebrahtu and elaborates:
- This is just the beginning. The development will be enormous already with the parks that are being established.
Just the beginning
Seasight Davit's first office in the US will be shared with Dansk Industri (DI) in New York. The goal is for service to be in focus.
- As I said, the goal is to be where our customers are, so that we can deliver the desired service on the cranes, she says.
As US regional director, Selamawit Mebrahtu will also be able to draw from Seasight Davit's parent company Seasight Group back home in Denmark.
- We have an entire back office that can help with technical and financial issues. This is the same way our branches in the UK and Taiwan are supported, says Selamawit Mebrahtu.
The New York office is just the beginning in several ways, because as soon as the American branch is in place, a training center will also be opened.
- With the training center, we can ensure that local technicians learn to operate the cranes in a safe way, says Selamawit Mebrahtu.
The challenges
Selamawit Mebrahtu has an engineering degree from VIA University College in Horsens, and she has also just completed a master's degree in project and change management at RUC. The challenges right now lie outside the technical area.
- Right now I'm looking at visas, and my main task is to hire between six and 12 technicians who will come for six months for training here in Ringkøbing, says Selamawit Mebrahtu.
Therefore, the tasks have expanded from the technical to finding the way and solutions in a regulatory jungle.
- In the USA, there are many rules, and they differ from state to state and even from small regional areas to the next, she explains.
Right now she is working on establishing the new office and creating salary packages for the future employees. This also means that an employee handbook must be created.
- There are many cultural differences between a workplace in Denmark and the USA. It could be the need to tell whether it is allowed to be armed or not in your workplace, says Selamawit Mebrahtu about a question that has a clear answer:
- It is a clear no to weapons in the workplace, and this is stated in the personnel handbook. It is just an example that our advisors have made us aware of. We are trying to find the right balance between our values and the local work culture, values and rules.
This article is a translation of an article that was published in Danish Offshore Magazine DOI 2024 in English.
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