20 years of Saltwater:
Grown, but still Saltwater
Twenty years ago, we started Saltwater with a fairly simple idea: listen carefully to the client, keep communication direct, and solve technical challenges in a practical and effective way. Twenty years, countless projects, new colleagues, and a great deal of experience later, much has changed – but that foundation really has not.
When I look back on the past twenty years, what I am most proud of is what we have built together.
From a small team to complex projects
In 2006, we were small, entrepreneurial, and willing to take on pretty much anything that came our way. We were curious, flexible, and not afraid of a technical challenge when the solution was not immediately obvious.
Twenty years later, the biggest change is the scale. We now have far more expertise, disciplines, and capabilities in-house, allowing us to support larger and more complex maritime projects from concept through execution.
That growth did not happen overnight. Every project brought new knowledge, experience, and sometimes new challenges. Step by step, that is how we developed into the engineering partner we are today.
“Twenty years, countless projects, new colleagues, and a great deal of experience later, much has changed – but the foundation really has not.”
Projects that stay with you
Over twenty years, we have worked on a great many projects – large and small, close to home and far away. Each one has contributed to our development in its own way, but some stay with you just a little more than others.
For me, one example is a special project for an event where we faced a rather unusual technical challenge: literally making water float on water. There was no standard solution, and we had to overcome quite a few technical challenges. The fact that we ultimately managed to turn this unusual idea into reality still makes it a project I am proud of.
Those are exactly the kinds of challenges that suit Saltwater. Instead of immediately deciding something cannot be done, we first want to understand how we can make it work.
Instead of immediately deciding something cannot be done, we first want to understand how it could be done.
Growth is about people
But there is something else I may be even more proud of. Our growth is not only about the size or complexity of our projects.
Ultimately, Saltwater is shaped by the people who work here: by the responsibility they take, the knowledge they share, and the way we work with our clients to find solutions.
That entrepreneurial and flexible character has been part of Saltwater from the beginning. Even as we have grown larger and more professional, we still want to tackle complex challenges together: being able to reach each other easily, respond quickly, and share responsibility for what we deliver.
That is something we absolutely want to preserve as we continue to grow.
Growing without growing for growth’s sake
We want to continue growing in the years ahead, but becoming bigger is not a goal in itself. What matters is becoming better, stronger, and more professional without losing the agility and culture we started with.
We want to continue developing as a specialist in complex maritime engineering and take on larger and more complex projects. We also want to strengthen our international presence and make increasingly smart use of new technology and AI in our work.
At the same time, we will continue investing in our people and in young technical talent. Ultimately, they will determine the expertise and capabilities Saltwater has in-house in the future.
On to 25 years
When we look back again five years from now, I hope we can say that Saltwater has taken another clear step forward – in scale, projects, and impact, but also in our role as an independent engineering partner.
Just as important is that colleagues still know one another, can easily walk over to each other, share knowledge, and help each other. That despite further growth, we have preserved the cohesion within our team, our direct communication, and our shared hands-on mentality.
If I could make one wish for the next five years, it would actually be very simple: That Saltwater has grown significantly, but is still unmistakably Saltwater.