Cosalt Offshore Appoints New Head of Norwegian Division

06 January 2011

Cosalt Offshore, a provider of lifting, tooling and marine services to the oil and gas industry, has announced the appointment of Runar Blakstad as the new Managing Director of its Norway division.

Mr Blakstad was most recently Managing Director of Sir Fish in Stavanger where he has restructured the business and turned it around into a highly profitable venture. He takes over the role at Cosalt Offshore in Norway from Jack Braten who established the original Myhre Maritime business and saw it through the transition to Cosalt ownership.

His appointment comes as Cosalt Offshore gears up for additional work in the New Year with significant new projects in the pipeline.

Commenting on the announcement, Mark Lejman, interim Chief Executive of Cosalt Offshore, said: “We would like to thank Jack Braten for his contribution to the development of business in Norway. Runar’s appointment is good news for our Norwegian operations as he is a highly-experienced and motivated individual who will bring a new dimension to the business.

“While Cosalt Offshore has undergone a challenging period, we are looking forward very much to the New Year when we will be announcing further positive developments for the business in the offshore sector.’’

Mr Blakstad said: “Cosalt Offshore has an established reputation for providing an excellent service for customers across the North Sea and I am looking forward very much to developing the business further in Norway. There is growing demand for our services and our experienced team is focused 100% on meeting the needs of our customers.’’

Cosalt Offshore has nearly 300 personnel, including a team of multi-skilled engineers, based in Aberdeen and its operations at Stavanger. A second rigging workshop has been established recently in Norway to provide a higher manufacturing capacity in response to customer demand.