About us

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Investing in the future

DSD AS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Folke Hermansen AS. Folke Hermansen AS is owned by the Hermansen family, with Yuhong Jin Hermansen being the majority shareholder and chair of both companies.

We have 14 members of staff working at our head office in Stavanger. In 2019 we established a representative office in Shanghai in China, and on 15 January 2020 we changed name from Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS to DSD AS (“DSD”). Our investment team is composed of a mix of younger and more experienced staff. Thanks to their strong combined expertise, we are able to focus both on the here and now and on the future.

Right since we launched our first paddle steamer in 1855, we have been creating, managing and developing assets. Developing assets and companies, and a willingness to take on difficult challenges, are strong features of our national industrial and cultural history.

We have primarily operated businesses in the transport and maritime sectors. The group is now undergoing a period of change, and it has high ambitions. Our focus is now on high-tech sustainable companies in the mobility sector, the marine/maritime industries, tourism and health care. Sustainability, active ownership and value creation shall be the foundations for the DSD Group’s future development.

As a family-owned group, we believe in creating value by taking a long-term perspective and through innovation. We are constantly on the lookout for sustainable opportunities, and we give people and technology the time and space they need to flourish. That is at the core of what we do. That is what DSD is about.


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Our investment team

At DSD, our business culture and history are all about looking to the future and engaging with the world around us. We invest in people who want to develop groundbreaking ideas, create world-leading technology and contribute to the society that we belong to. We have no desire to follow in the footsteps of others; we want to lead the way. We have been doing that for over 160 years. And we intend to continue doing so for another 160 years.

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Our Chief Investment Officer Kjartan Melberg has extensive and varied experience from several different industries.

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Our Chief Business Development Officer Martin Økland is a vital member of our investment team, who helps DSD to discover good opportunities within our business areas.

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Ingvald Løyning has been DSD’s CEO since 2015. He has considerable senior management and board experience from a number of different companies and industries.

1855

DSD is founded on 12 February 1855 in order to build the paddle steamer “Ryfylke” and operate it on the first commercial passenger services in the Ryfylke region.
Om DSD

1879

DSD expands into the international market by winning a three-year contract for the summer mail route between Kristiansand in Norway and Fredrikshavn in mainland Denmark.
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1919

DSD joins the Hurtigruten coastal ferry service, giving Stavanger a weekly connection to the route between Bergen and Kirkenes.
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1960

Norway’s first hydrofoil Vingtor starts operating on Norway’s first fast ferry service between Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen. Travelling at 35 knots, Vingtor covers the distance in just four hours.
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1989

DSD enters the international shipping market through DSD Shipping AS. It soon signs a contract to buy five tankers.
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2004

Nor-Cargo is sold to Posten Norge AS. Nor-Cargo shipping is renamed Nor Lines AS. Shortly afterwards, Nor Lines establishes a nationwide network of land freight services.
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2009

The world’s first passenger ferries powered by natural gas (LNG) enter service on the major commuter route Nesoddtangen-Aker Brygge in Oslo.
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2011

Nor Lines becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of DSD.

DSD acquires all of the shares in Tide Sjø AS, and changes the name of the company to Norled AS.

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2015

Norled puts the world’s first battery-powered zero-emission ferry, Ampere, into operation on the Lavik-Oppdal route in Sogn.

Nor Lines takes delivery of two award-winning fully LNG-powered cargo ships.

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2017

DSD acquires all of the shares in Tide ASA.

The Nor Lines business is sold to Samskip.

DSD Shipping signs a contract to buy a further four tankers.

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2019

Norled is sold to CapMan Infra and CBRE Caledon Capital Management.

Go Fjords is launched by DSD, marking a new initiative aimed at the international tourism market.

Last ned

2020

The company changes name from Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS to DSD AS (“DSD”).
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Awards and milestones

At DSD, we transform ambitious ideas into groundbreaking results. That’s how we are creating world-leading, green, sustainable technology.


  1. Year: 2013
    Award:
    • Green Ship Award
    • Norwegian Logistics and Freight Association's environmental award
    • The Rogaland county reserach and innovation prize
  2. Year: 2014
    Award:
    • Ship of the Year
    • The Thor Heyerdahl Award
    • Næringslivets Klimapris, an annual award given to Norwegian business for climate-friendly innovation
  3. Year: 2015
    Award:
    • The world’s greenest cargo ships, the LNG-powered Kvitbjørn and Kvitnos, are christened and enter service.
    • The world’s first battery-powered zero-emission ferry, Ampere, enters service.
  4. Year: 2017
    Award:
    • The hybrid ferry MS Folgefonn becomes the first ferry in the world to use wireless charging.

Management

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    Portrait image of Ingvald Løyning

    Ingvald Løyning

    Chief Executive Officer

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    Portrait image of Kjartan Melberg

    Kjartan Melberg

    Chief Investment Officer

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    Portrait image of Martin Økland

    Martin Økland

    Chief Business Development Officer

Board of directors

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    Portrait image of Yuhong J. Hermansen

    Yuhong J. Hermansen

    Chairman of the board

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    Portrait image of Bjørn A. Dahle

    Bjørn A. Dahle

    Chairmember

  • Eirik B Monsen 2018 Kopi 002

    Portrait image of Eirik Børve Monsen

    Eirik Børve Monsen

    Chairmember

  • Lena sorthvitt 2

    Portrait image of Lena Nymo Helli

    Lena Nymo Helli

    Styremedlem

  • Anita Krohn Traaseth til web

    Portrait image of Anita Krohn Traaseth

    Anita Krohn Traaseth

    Styremedlem

Contact us

Do you have any questions about potential investments, or do you have a company or an idea that you would like us to have a look at? Regardless of whether it’s a fund, company, project or something else interesting, we’re happy to have a chat.

DSD AS
Børehaugen 1
4006 Stavanger

Phone: +47 51 84 56 11
Email: mail@dsd.no