She almost knows the world's oceans already, because 31-year-old Selamawit Mebrahtu has already sailed as a master 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 took the machinist training in Bergen
Seasigth Davits designs, develops and produces davit cranes. Each offshore wind turbine has its own crank installed. The cranes are used to hoist tools and spare parts onto the mills.
The USA is a market on the rise, 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 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 is going to be enormous already with the parks that are being established.
Only the beginning
Seasight Davit's first office in the USA will be shared with Dansk Industri (DI) in New York. The goal is for service to be the 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 at home in Denmark.
- We have a whole back office that can help with the technical and financial issue. It is the same way our branches in Great Britain 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 must 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 currently lie outside the technical area.
- Right now I am looking at visas, and my main task is to employ between six and 12 technicians who will come for six months of training here in Ringkøbing, says Selamawit Mebrahtu.
That is why the tasks have expanded from the technical to finding the way and the solutions in a regulatory jungle.
- In the US 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 setting up the new office and making 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 at 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 appears in the personnel handbook. This is just an example that our advisers have brought to our attention. We try to find the right balance between our values and the local work culture, values and rules.
This article is a translation of an article published in Danish Offshore Magasine DOI 2024 in English.
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