The early years
Jan-Erik Dyvi established his own company in 1955 with the aim of taking new approaches to maritime transport. A flair for finding practical solutions in this industry has resulted in a string of successful pioneering ventures and about 30 newbuildings, all of them special-purpose vessels or even prototypes.
Dyvi’s first shipping venture was in partnership with Torvald Klaveness & Co, and involved converting maritime transport of fertiliser produced by Norway’s Norsk Hydro from bag to bulk. Fertiliser from Hydro‘s plant at Glomfjord in northern Norway was shipped in bags to Oslo. Mr Dyvi had the idea that these shipments could be carried out in bulk and, together with Klaveness, managed to convince Hydro. This represented the first-ever bulk fertiliser contract.
In 1960, Mr Dyvi joined forces with Leif Høegh & Co to establish the Europafergen service – the first car/passenger ferry operation in Europe after World War II. No road or bridge connections existed between Sweden and continental Europe at that time, and Mr Dyvi saw that the growth in traffic created the basis for such a service.
Of all his pioneering ventures, the introduction of the pure car carrier (PCC) must be considered the most successful. Dyvi built the world’s first roll on/roll off PCC, Dyvi Anglia, in 1962. Another four of these vessels were ordered in succession before the concept was copied in 1970.
After oil had been discovered off Norway in 1969, Mr Dyvi’s attention was drawn to this sector. Dyvi Offshore AS was established in 1972 as one of the first offshore drilling companies in Norway. At one time, it ranked as the largest Norwegian contractor of its kind.
Over a 16-year period, Dyvi ordered and operated nine drilling rigs.
In cooperation with R S Platou Shipbrokers, Dyvi also introduced the first semi-submersible heavy lift ships and combined product tankers, and four such vessels were built from 1979-81.
The next phase
Mr Dyvi decided in 1988 to sell his controlling stake in Dyvi AS, by then a listed offshore drilling company, to Smedvig ASA. This enabled the latter to become the largest Norwegian drilling contractor.
With its deep knowledge of and expertise with the maritime industry in general and the offshore industry in particular, Dyvi formed a partnership with Kvaerner Maritime. These partners developed three ”bare deck” platforms at Vyborg Shipyard in Russia with great success.
The first of these units, Odyssey, became the launching platform for the Sea Launch satellite launching project. The second, Iliad, was sold as a production platform to Petrobras in Brazil, while the last went to the Gold & Friedman offshore engineering group in the USA.
During this period, Dyvi also reactivated its involvement in the bulk shipping market and became a partner in the Bulkhandling pool together with the Torvald Klaveness group and Havtor Management AS. In addition, Dyvi started to focus on the private equity market in Norway.
The next generation
Jan Frederik Dyvi joined in the company in 1994 and became its managing director in 1998. A change of generations was also taking place, as Jan-Erik Dyvi’s children – Alexandra Dyvi, Annette Dyvi and Emmy Carine Dyvi Knudtzon as well as Jan Frederik Dyvi – became shareholders in the company.
With this gradual transition from the first to the second generation, the focus for Dyvi has shifted more towards long-term industrial shipping and investment. Building meticulously on a solid foundation, Dyvi is poised for further growth in and enhancement of its services and investments.
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