Amalie Florival, Maritime Trainee, has hit the ground running at Skuld, seizing on the opportunities provided through the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association programme to make an instant impact across a range of initiatives. Here Amalie explains how the responsibility she’s been given, combined with her own obvious drive and talent, is supercharging progress.

Some things are just meant to be. Sitting, talking with Amalie a few days after her wedding, discussing that magic match, before seamlessly progressing on to her selection for Skuld – coming via the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association’s Maritime Trainee Programme and a total of 172 applicants for this single position – there’s a feeling of destiny at work here.

Amalie, and her direct leader, Admir Mesic, Skuld’s Head of Sustainability, laugh at the suggestion, preferring to emphasise her drive, passion and strong educational pedigree (with a Masters in Sustainable Finance from BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo) as the stand-out factors.

But whatever your perspective, the stars certainly seem to have aligned, as Amalie discusses a lengthy list of achievements since joining Skuld’s sustainability team just ten short months ago.

In at the deep end

Skuld takes in one participant from the annual programme every second year, exposing them to experiences right across the organisation, from underwriting and claims handling through to business development.

Appropriately enough, when working in this most global of sectors, there’s also an international flavour to the 18-month-long position, which for Amalie has included a short stint at Skuld’s Singapore base and, after summer, a longer three-month stay in Skuld London for a deep dive into the underwriting world.

Sustainable ambition

The areas of the business Amalie has access to may be diverse, but her efforts are united under a ‘mission’ of sustainability, all built on the firm foundation of the work of her and Admir’s department.

Their Oslo-based function has the overall remit of embedding sustainability within Skuld’s network of eleven offices and the activities of all 351 staff. It is assisted by the Sustainability Working Group, consisting of 15 members from across the organisation, who collectively work to focus on their individual departments.

“So we are facilitating, leading, and involving the entire organisation, on a cross-functional basis, across numerous sustainability projects and initiatives,” explains Amalie, saying she finds the work “meaningful” as it gives so much insight into all the pieces of the Skuld puzzle.

“The big picture it helps create is amazing,” she says, adding she feels “privileged” to have the role.

But, as quickly becomes apparent, there is a two-way privilege flow, made clear by Admir enthusing about Amalie’s “instant impact” on the department and Skuld itself.

Fuelling progress

Since her arrival, she’s certainly been busy. A brief skip over achievements to date include using her intellect and education (which Admir highlights as key to “closing the gap between finance and sustainability”) to contribute to the revision of governance documents related to sustainability and investments, helping with claims data analysis on climate and transition issues, analysing market trends, collecting data to improve emissions coverage across the investment portfolio, and working diligently on disclosing ESG within Skuld’s 2024/25 Annual Report.

The spread of inputs is so broad that it’s difficult to delve into each individual area, leading Admir to highlight two initiatives as particularly noteworthy.

One of the projects is to dive deeper into Skuld’s insurance portfolio for “an analysis of alternative fuels”, spanning everything from wind power and ammonia to batteries and methanol.

“Skuld has the philosophy of a data-driven approach to sustainability, backing up ambitions and progress with tangible numbers,” Amalie explains. “Here we wanted to ensure high-quality data by matching our portfolio data with external sources, giving us a detailed overview of our business and the industry as a whole – identifying trends, overlapping developments, and emerging areas of interest. This helps understand the evolving nature of risk, for example, assessing the adoption of new fuel types, different vessels, areas of operation and so on.”

She describes it as “a fascinating arena” leading to data-based insights that, with continual refinement, can help members and Skuld safely navigate change.

Leading the way

‘Change’ segues the conversation onto Admir’s next example of Amalie’s value, with the subject of AI.

At the beginning of the year, Skuld introduced a new anti-greenwashing AI agent that Amalie helped develop. The tech, which Admir highlights as “a great example of how a soon-to-be 130-year-old company can still be leading the way ahead”, helps Skuld employees avoid what the duo calls a growing pitfall in the world of sustainability, “report greenwashing”.

Amalie explains: “There’s a new breed of regulations, with stringent standards relating to what you can state. Vague statements or over-inflated promises need to be avoided to comply, but that can be difficult when people are genuinely passionate about making progress and want to show commitment.

“This tool provides feedback, highlighting any potential greenwashing or pointing out where further examples are needed to back up statements. It’s simple, but really effective.”

The tool launched at the beginning of 2025 and is now used company-wide.

Nurturing talent

The trainee programme highlights a key strength, not just of Amalie, but of Skuld’s approach to both the Maritime Trainee Programme and personal development in general.

As Admir points out, “there’s no treading water here – you dive in and away you go.”

Amalie has made such a difference not just because of her education, talent, and ambition but also because she’s been allowed to.

“I’ve been given a lot of responsibility right from the start,” she says. “I’ve been introduced across so many departments, met so many people, at all levels, and put to work on tasks that are important. I’ve not been assigned projects ‘just to keep the trainee busy’, I feel I’ve been valued to have inputs, to make a difference from day one. That’s been a key highlight of my time here so far.”

In terms of sustainability, it also underscores an important fact. Creating a sustainable future for the industry isn’t just about embracing new technology or fuels; it also involves embracing and nurturing fresh talent. Amalie couldn’t agree more.

“People are central to this industry,” she concludes, “and that’s never more obvious than here at Skuld, where support, inclusion and trust are cornerstones of the culture. I’m really enjoying it… and I hope to do so long into the future.”

Some things, it seems, are just meant to be.