Sture Ödner joins when business starts to boom

The 1950s entail a rapid expansion for the shipping industry in general and Salén shipping in particular. The fleet of vessels grows rapidly with both purchases and new orders to their own shipyards Ekensberg in Stockholm and Eriksberg in Gothenburg. In 1955 Sven Salén appoints the former up and coming young man, Sture Ödner, to Vice Managing Director and in this environment Ödners daring and sharp business sense comes into its own. Refrigerated ships become bigger and more modern. But business goes so well that the shipping company’s own tonnage is not sufficient and instead, they start to hire ships on time charter. During the 1950s Saléns grows from a position of between number 15 and 20 of the world’s biggest shipping companies to become the fifth largest. The market share increases, types of transported goods become more numerous and the freight area spreads to the whole world and in the 1960s they have built up the world’s largest fleet of refrigerated shipping.