Harald M. Eikesdal in memoriam

When this magazine is published, one year will have passed since many of our company’s subsidiaries lost an exceptional chairman and board member, and, for me personally, a rare, dear friend. Harald Magne Eikesdal was laid to rest at Skåre Kirke on December 19th, 2019.

Eikesdal was trained a lawyer at the University of Oslo. After graduating he secured a job in the tax administration of the Ministry of Finance, and had risen through the ranks to become Bureau Chief by the time he moved back to his hometown in the mid-70s. There, the position of Deputy Judge at the Haugesund district court was waiting for him. A few years later, he established his own law practice, quickly gaining a base of clients through his solid and sought-after knowledge concerning tax law, contract law and commercial law. This knowledge made him a sought-after board member for a number of companies in the city and region.

In 2012, after many years serving as Chairman of the board for Solstad in Skudeneshavn, he entered a similar role in Østensjø Rederi and their subsidiaries. He quickly proved to be an important strategic councellor, clear thinking and analytical, and with professional know-how that became indispensable as the shipping company kept growing. We had to work out the optimal financial solutions to lift our businesses without weakening our free and independent position.

The company’s management and I, as the owner, got to work with him for close to seven years. His active involvement and wise guidance gently pushed us forward and gave us assurance through difficult waters. This assurance gave the leadership team and myself the freedom to keep developing a shipping company with high competence at every level, a well though-out personnel policy, and a high reputation, even internationally. Harald M. Eikesdal has left his impressions on this company. We have a lot to thank him for.

One year since his passing, our thoughts still go to his wife Herborg, his two sons, and his five grandchildren from his first marriage to Inger.

Words like these cannot convey how we feel when a man of Harald M. Eikesdal’s stature passes away. His humour, his energy and his insights live on through us.

Johannes Østensjø