A christening among those closest

Platforms, like rigs, follow Norwegian maritime tradition in being christened before deployment. One exception is Statfjord A, which was not christened until it was installed on the field.

The christening of Gullfaks A took place at Aker Stord. Else Grethe Kolnes, who worked in the training department at Statoil’s Stavanger office, had the honour of serving as godmother.

After the ceremony, canapés, white wine, coffee, and petit fours were served in the onboard canteen on Gullfaks A.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Statoil, «Joda, champagneflasken knuste,» Status Bergen 5, nr. 4 (1986): 5

Only a small group of close affiliates were invited to the christening—senior management from Statoil, as well as guests from Aker and Norwegian Contractors. Both companies had been involved in constructing the platform. The media was not invited, nor were the many who had worked on the platform’s construction.

In his speech, Statoil’s Director in Bergen, Jakob Bleie explained that the more intimate gathering was due to the project not being complete yet. Only when the platform was in place on the field and had begun producing would there be reason to celebrate. That party, they would postpone.

In his speech, CEO Arve Johnsen highlighted how long the “springtime tilling” had been, from the licence award for block 34/10 in 1978 to the start of production, but said the harvest would be even longer: “The groundwork and investments we’ve made in the 1980s will yield returns in the 1990s and in the year 2000, in ways that benefit both those of us who made this happen and society as a whole.”[REMOVE]Fotnote:Haugesunds Avis, «Gullfaks A døypt i går,» 19 April 1986.

In May that same year, the platform was towed out to the field. There, final work was completed before production began in December 1986.

With production still ongoing in 2025, the harvest ended up lasting far longer than Johnsen could have imagined nearly 40 years ago.