History

Viken Shipping was established in 1993, and continues the ship owning traditions of the family of Tom C. Steckmest, which extend over a century.

It was Mr. Steckmest's great grandfather, Haakon Wallem, who began the family's involvement in the shipping industry, when he in Shanghai in 1903 founded what was to become Wallem Group Ltd, now headquartered in Hong Kong.

S/S Oscar II - First vessel of Wallem & Co., Bergen

Wallem is today one of the largest shipping companies in South East Asia, providing shipmanagement, shipagency and broking - services to shipowners throughout the world. As an independent provider of shipmanagement-services to a fleet of more than 300 ships, Wallem currently ranks among the largest shipmanagers world wide.

The ownership of Wallem left the family in 1968 , but was brought back in 2006 when Viken Shipping AS together with co-investors, including the senior management of Wallem, acquired the shareholding.
On his death in 1951 Haakon Wallem left the running of his Norwegian based shipowning activities to his daughter Rita Steckmest, and the business here was continued under the name Wallem Steckmest & Co. AS.

In 1993 Tom C. Steckmest took over the shares in the family business from his father Arne Steckmest and the other sons of Rita Steckmest. Today Wallem Steckmest & Co. AS only holds interests in real estate connected to the family property in Erviken, and provides offices and other administrative company services to the Viken Shipping Group.

The commercial starting point for Viken Shipping AS and its inception in 1993, was an opportunity to acquire a fleet of eight dry-cargo bulkers which at the time were embargoed under the UN sanctions against the former Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). Since then, the Viken fleet has extended into other ship segments, and in addition to the bulkers now consist of crude oil tankers (suezmaxes, aframaxes and vlcc's) and product tankers (MR's, coated aframaxes), all on long term charters with Fednav, Total and Shell.