Safety company celebrates half-century
Viking celebrates 50 years of liferafts on 1 February 2010
2010 marks the year in which Viking Life-Saving Equipment celebrates its 50th anniversary in maritime and offshore safety equipment and servicing.
Viking Life-Saving Equipment says that 2010 marks the company’s 50th anniversary and also the 50th anniversary of its chairman, Tage Sørensen. The occasion, on 1 February, is being celebrated at the company’s global offices around the world, and with a reception at Viking’s headquarters at Esbjerg in Denmark.
The operation started as A/S Nordisk Gummibådsfabrik, a small liferaft manufacturer with just a few employees in the Esbjerg, and has grown into what has been claimed to be a global leader in maritime and offshore lifesaving equipment enhancing safety of life at sea.
The company began to expand internationally with the establishment of its first overseas subsidiary, at Rotterdam in 1977. Today, with 52 sales and service facilities and more than 270 certified servicing stations, Viking claims to be a truly global corporation offering the largest global safety network.
The company was founded by the Sørensen family, which had been active for many years in the town and port of Esbjerg. Viking's present active chairman of the board, Tage Sørensen (born in 1915), established what is now known as Viking Life-Saving Equipment A/S in 1960. Sørensen says that he grew up with the Scout movement and its ideals: honesty, responsibility, reliability, and respect, values which he expects the company to reflect today.
The new millennium has seen a rate of growth that is said to be unprecedented in the company’s 50 year history. It employs some 1,300 people worldwide and its revenues are close to 150 million Euros, which represents a tripling of turnover in the past 10 years.
CEO Kjeld Amann, who took the reins in 2000, remarks: "Reaching this anniversary milestone is a true testament to the ideas and values of our founder, to our employees and to the strength of our company’s business concept. Over the years, more than 2,000 people all over the world have worked together to make this company what it is today. We are very proud of our achievements over the last 50 years and happy to continue offering our customers first class safety products and services.
“Today is a great opportunity for our employees to pause and acknowledge the accomplishments of the past,” he continues. “But it’s also a time to focus on continually improving our operations, our products and our services to ensure a long and bright future for Viking.”
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