Malene is the first Danish female offshore installation manager

The rumor already spread quietly at the port in Esbjerg last year that TotalEnergies had got its first female platform manager in the Danish part of the North Sea. It is the first time in Denmark that a woman gets such a job.

Civil engineer Malene Birkemose Knudsen became offshore installation manager (OIM) – as the title is in the oil and gas industry on the Halfdan field in April 2022. The position is like a captain on a ship, where the platform manager is the top manager on the platform with responsibility for both employees and production.

45-year-old Malene Birkemose Knudsen is relaxed about the job, and that she became the first female platform manager, the same year that oil and gas production turned 50 in Denmark. In doing so, she has written herself into the history books. However, it is not something that fills her.

- My friends and family think it went well. But it's not something that I advertise with, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who is enthusiastic about her work:

- I am very happy about it, even though it is not a job that I specifically went for.

It all started with a choice between two study cities.

Copenhagen or Esbjerg

Although Malene Birkemose Knudsen is from the university city of Odense, the choice was between studying engineering in either Copenhagen or Esbjerg.

- I moved to Esbjerg to study, because at that time you could only study for a master's degree in Odense. But I wanted to be a civil engineer, and so it was Esbjerg. I was afraid of not being able to take the last part if I had stayed in Odense, she says.

As a civil engineer, he began his career at Mærsk, which at the time was responsible for the extraction of oil and gas from the Danish part of the North Sea.

- I started 21 years ago as a trainee at Mærsk, later I became a process engineer, project manager and production manager onshore, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who has been in Esbjerg, Singapore and Qatar during Mærsk's time.

At one point she had tried so many different things that the offshore work dragged on.

- My children are at an age where I can be away from them, and it is definitely an exciting opportunity to have, she now says about the job as platform manager.

Her daughters are now eight and 15 years old, so they can be alone with their father during the 14 days when Malene Birkemose Knudsen is out on Halfdan B. There are three platform managers who replace each other on the platform.

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- I had rotations with each of the other three before I came out alone, explains Malene Birkemose Knudsen.

After that, one of the three could resign from his position, so that there are again three to share the position.

14 days away but more free time with the family

Malene Birkemose Knudsen has prepared her family for what it would be like when she is gone for 14 days.

- I clarified it with my husband and children before I made the decision, although they probably didn't quite know what it meant, she says.

And although her children have gotten used to their mother going to work on the North Sea 14 days at a time, one thing is still certain.

- My children are tired of it when I have to leave, but that's not surprising. You probably have to be of a certain type to be able to be away for 14 days, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen.

Even though the workplace is 200 km out on the North Sea, and she does not work 12 hours a day but rather 24 hours a day as a platform manager, there is time to keep in touch with the family.

- I call with them several times a day on FaceTime, she says about something that, despite the distance, provides a kind of presence with the family.

The work at Halfdan

While the work that Malene Birkemose Knudsen has had in the past has been almost exclusively of a technical and managerial nature, the work as an offshore installation manager contains even more facets.

- It's like a small community where you live off each other for 14 days, you have to be able to get along with everyone. It is important to have a good team and cooperation. I am the one who has to make sure that everyone is happy and comfortable. It all has to work, and this applies from the kitchen to the cleaning, which are also important parts of it, she says.

Safety and well-being are something that will not be compromised for the up to 80 employees who can work at Halfdan B at a time. In addition, Malene Birkemose Knudsen is also responsible for 30 employees at Halfdan A and unmanned Halfdan C.

Altogether, Halfdan A, B and C produce 45,000 barrels of oil and gas per day – or as it is called in the industry, oil and gas equivalents. So it is both the responsibility for the safety of the employees as well as a production that must run. Although it is routine work, it is not always like this.

- You never know what the day will bring, and you can't spend time thinking about what to do if a gas alarm goes off at three in the morning, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen about one of the reasons why her work is 24 hours a day.

And that is certainly something that Halfdan can show really good statistics on.

- Safety is a top priority, and we have just celebrated five years without a single person being away for more than 24 hours, she says.

There are a large number of things that otherwise belong to ordinary everyday life that should not be thought of at all on an offshore platform.

- You don't have to think about all the practical things, like picking up children and shopping. You have to go downstairs and collect your clothes from the laundry, she says.

Although everything practical has been taken care of at Halfdan, there is no doubt what the first days of the three weeks off are earmarked for.

- You have a completely different freedom with three weeks off. But the first days after I get home, I need to go for long walks alone with my dog, explains Malene Birkemose Knudsen.

Good reception as a female boss

It is no secret that working offshore is a male-dominated world, and on Halfdan B there are between five and six women out of the up to 80 on board. But Malene Birkemose Knudsen has been well received.

- It has been like any other newcomer that I just had to be looked at a bit. I have noticed that the world of men is being throttled down a bit. The men probably benefit when a woman comes, says Malene Birkemose Knudsen, who has also not noticed a difference in the way the foreign employees treat her.

- When I worked in Qatar, I noticed that some people had a hard time with a female boss, this has not been the case at Halfdan at all, she says.